Infection of the Dead: The Other Side of Life
by Mattgasm
Summary: While one group of survivors are dealing with the zombie apocalypse in one part of the country, a different survivor is going through a hellish journey of their own in another part. This story is about a survivor going through hell and back and fighting for survival all while trying to retain his sanity and humanity. This is their story from the same world... the other side of life
1. The Beginning of the End

**(Heeeeeeeeey… Fuck, I don't know how to start this.**

**So I'm guessing that you already know what this story is about… nah probably not. So if you guys don't know, which is probably mostly all of you, there's a story out there called **_**Loud House: Infection of the Dead**_ **and it's a good ass story about the Loud House characters surviving in the zombie apocalypse. So if any of you like the Walking Dead, be sure to give this story a read. Mr. PotassiumK is a brilliant author and he allowed me to create a backstory to a future character.**

**Who is this future character you might ask? Well you remember my own Loud House story, **_**The Loudest Journey**_**? Well Potassium loved the story so much that he decided to include my character, 'Matt Dillon' into his story in the future. Of course, I was ecstatic, and wanted to jump on Matt right away. So I asked him if it was alright to create a backstory of Matt and how he handled the zombie apocalypse, or the Infection of the Dead, and he was all up for it. In fact, he's such a huge fan of Matt Dillon, that he absolutely cannot wait until this story is published. Never would I have guessed that Matt Dillon would have a small fanbase. Heh, I feel so accomplished.**

**Anywho, this story is my take on Potassium's own story. The reason why it's called The Other Side of Life is because of two reasons:**

**There's a Left 4 Dead 2 Custom Campaign called Silent Hill: The Otherside of Life and after watching iyse hazard on YouTube playing it, I thought that was a good title to use, so I used it.**

**Because this story is literally about another survivor and how their life was affected by the Infection of the Dead, hence Other Side of Life.**

**All in all, the title worked out pretty well and I am stoked to write this story. I already have numerous ideas on how to work this story and how to write the dark themes.**

**This story will handle about the loss of life, severe psychological trauma, insanity, the loss of humanity in one self, and the loss of identity. Essentially, it's about how a character, in this case Matt, goes insane from the zombie outbreak, and I am stoked to write about it. So go check out Mr. PotassiumK's own story and give it a good read. The chapters are intense, nerve racking, suspenseful, and long… just like my di-**

**Anyway, without further ado, **_**Infection of the Dead: The Other Side of Life**_…

…

…

**How many more of these do I have to do?)**

* * *

A teenaged kid that looked to be the age of 17 laid helplessly on the ground, having a dead expression on his face as he stared aimlessly up in the sky. His mouth was slightly open as blood leaked out of his cut lip while blood poured out of his cuts and bruises that were all over his face. Blood came running out of his nose as a few blood tears stained his cheeks. His entire body was beaten and battered while his clothes were ripped in several places.

His hearing was muffled as he continued to stare aimlessly up in the sky, watching the birds fly over him. He blinked once, taking away a lot of strength from his battered, weakened body. He licked his dry lips as he blinked some more, still staring upwards into the cloudy skies a light drizzle began to fall onto the ground and onto his face.

At that moment, shadows appeared next to him as a hand was placed on his shoulder, but this did not stop the kid from staring dead into the sky. Muffled shouts could be heard from all around, but that still didn't get the kid's attention. It wasn't until a hand was placed his cheek, wiping away the blood stains from his tears that caused the kid to look to the right, seeing an older looking man above him.

"Can you hear me?" asked an unknown male voice.

"What's your name, son?" asked the older man.

The kid stared at him for a brief moment before he went back to staring at the sky with dead eyes. He remained silent as he continued to lie on the ground, all while several people continued to help treat his wounds. The kid suddenly began to hear echoed, muffled voices in his head, his past coming back to haunt his poor soul.

_Matt!_

_We're getting surrounded!_

_Matt, get over here!_

_The walkers are all over the place!_

_The enemy has reached our base!_

_Matt!_

_Maaaaaaatt!_

* * *

"Matt!" shouted a voice.

Matt turned his head to see another teenaged kid, several cuts and bruises all over his face, having a pleading expression on his face as he grabbed Matt's shoulders.

"They're all over the place!" the kid shouted. "We're surrounded! Our leader is dead! What do we do?!"

At that moment, a walker came out of nowhere and sunk it's teeth into the kid's shoulder, causing him to scream in horrible agony. Matt backed up, traumatized at the sight of his friend getting eaten alive in front of him; the teenaged kid continued to scream bloody murder as his body was devoured by a horde of walkers.

Several more muffled shouts and screams could be heard all around Matt, prompting him to examine his surroundings.

All around him was nothing but violence. A massacre happening all around him, as he continued to stand in the middle of a forest, fire everywhere as dead branches fell from the trees, the ground burnt to a crisp, as corpses littered the entire area, both of the dead and undead.

Several survivors could be seen fighting each other, most likely enemies. A survivor could be seen smashing open another survivor's head open with a baseball bat, before that said survivor was impaled from behind by a sword. A walker suddenly came walking up to the murderer and sunk it's teeth into his neck, causing the survivor to scream in horrid pain.

Two survivors could be seen fighting each other in hand to hand combat, both holding weapons in their hands. The first survivor was pushed to the ground while the second one raised his club in the air and swinging it down, smashing it against the head of the first survivor, killing him.

A third survivor came from behind and swung a huge rock against the second survivor's head, killing him as the corpse landed on the ground. At that moment, a fourth survivor came charging at the third survivor, impaling said him with a katana. Suddenly, the person's head was bashed with a spiked club from his enemy from behind, as several more screams and shouts could be heard.

That person suddenly turned around to see another survivor charging at him with a sword, impaling his hand as he fell to the ground, before the enemy lowered his sword into the survivor's throat, killing him. The enemy was suddenly pushed to the ground by another survivor, as the attacker lead an assault on the downed enemy. He began to punch the enemy's face, all while he could only block so many punches before he succumbed to shock and blood loss.

The survivor was suddenly grabbed from behind by a walker and immediately began to get devoured by a small group of the undead. His screams echoed into Matt's ear as he continued to look all around him, seeing nothing but bloody violence.

One person was sent flying by an explosion, losing his legs in the process, while another slammed their shovel against their enemy's cheek, sending him flying as well. The survivor was suddenly pushed into a watery pit of mud as another survivor got on top of him and forced his head in the muddy water, drowning him.

One survivor of the enemy could be seen sitting behind a rock as he watched his friends get murdered in front of his eyes. This just showed to prove that even the enemy was tired of fighting and wanted everything to stop, as he continued to stare at the bloodbath in front of him, much like Matt.

A person was on top of another person, raising their hatchet in the air. However, another survivor came running from behind and snatched the hatchet out of their hands, causing the survivor to accidentally punch his enemy in the face with his fist. Before the three could even react, a grenade was carelessly thrown by the three and exploded, killing all three of the survivors instantly. It rained guts, blood, and body parts as a leg fell near a couple of walkers feasting on the dead body of a young preteen.

It wasn't until he heard muffled screaming from his side that caused him to regain his composure. He turned to the left to see a survivor charging at him a shovel in his hand. Before he could react to anything at all, the enemy swung his shovel against Matt's face, knocking him down.

Matt's vision blurred as his hearing began to muffle and ring. He grabbed his head as he quickly regained his vision, seeing that his enemy was about to plunge his shovel into his Matt's neck. His enemy swung the shovel down but luckily, Matt caught it by the handle. At that moment, an explosion went off next to them, covering them in mud and blood.

The two struggled in the fight, Matt trying his hardest to not let the shovel be the end of him, while his enemy tried for the complete opposite. He turned to the side to see a walker, growling at the two while his body was stuck underneath a fallen tree branch. The walker reached out his hand as it growled some more, trying to reach it's prey.

An idea came into Matt's head at that moment. He suddenly turned his entire body to the right, knocking his enemy right in the biting distance of the walker. Said walker grabbed onto the shirt collar of the survivor and bit down onto his neck, causing him to scream in horrific pain. Matt crawled backwards as he watched his enemy get devoured in front of him.

He turned to the left to see a little kid that looked to be the age of 8 crying in the middle of the battlefield. Right at that moment, a grenade was thrown by his feet, going unnoticed by him. Shortly afterwards, the grenade exploded, killing the kid instantly as his body parts were scattered all over the place. The kid's left leg was thrown towards Matt, falling right next to him.

He turned to the right to see another kid about the age of 10 getting eaten alive by a pair of walkers. The kid screamed and cried out for his mother, before his legs couldn't support him as he crashed into the ground. The walkers then began to rip out the kid's organs and entrails, feasting on them as Matt simply watched in horror.

Matt stood up as he continued to examine his surroundings, everything going in slow motion as his hearing began to muffle. He saw several survivors fighting, throwing punches or stabbing each other in the gut. He saw one survivor trying to crawl away only for the enemy to stab him in the back with a dagger. That same enemy was suddenly turned around and got stabbed in the throat with a knife.

He turned to the side to see a person bashing another person with a huge rock they picked up. Suddenly, an explosion imploded near the person and as the smoke dissipated, the person was revealed to have lost his arm as his clothes were bloodied and rip. That same person only realized that his arm was gone before he fell on the ground, dying of blood loss as his corpse was covered in mud and blood.

He saw two people fist fighting each other, throwing punches and kicking each other. However, their fight was interrupted by two walkers came from behind and began to devour them, their muffled screams of agony and pain echoing in Matt's ears.

Matt continued to look at the horrific massacre in front of him. All he could do was watch as his friends were brutally murdered in front of him.

_War isn't about who's right… it's about who's left._

As Matt continued to watch the bloodbath in front of him, as enemy survivor came running up from behind him in slow motion, raising a frying pan as he screamed a warcry; a loud explosion was suddenly heard as everything went black.

* * *

_Heya Tom, it's Bob… from the office up the hall…_

_Good to see you buddy, how've you been?_

Matt aimlessly walked through a naked part of the woods, covered in blood, mud, bruises, and cuts as walkers were also roaming that part of the woods. He had a dead expression on his face as he stumbled over a few branches as the walkers all around him continued to growl. One walker in particular came roaming in his direction, extending its hand to grab onto Matt.

However, Matt moved at the last second, causing said walker to fall to the ground. Matt continued to aimlessly walk through the woods as the trees continued to burn while the sky was fire orange and filled with smoke; the sunset adding to the orange hue.

_Things have been okay for me except that I'm a zombie now_

_I really wish you'd let us in_

At that moment, Matt heard cries for help, prompting him to turn to the side. There he saw a small group of five walkers banging on a shed, most likely where a lone survivor was trapped. Without thinking, Matt approached the small group of walkers, grabbing his machete that was in it's holster strapped to his back.

The walkers apparently heard footsteps behind them, as they turned around and growled at their approaching prey. Matt didn't back down however, already gone through hell and back and witnessed many atrocities and massacres ever since the outbreak began. There was nothing else to live for… he had nothing left to lose… he had no reason to live. He secretly hoped he would mess up his attack on the walkers so he could experience the sweet relief of death, as he continued to stumble his way towards the five.

_I think I speak for all of us when I say I understand_

_Why you folks might hesitate to submit to our demand_

Matt swung down his machete onto the head of a walker, killing it instantly. Immediately afterwards, he kicked another walker that was getting close to him to the ground. He used all his strength to pull out his machete and immediately decapitate the head of a third walker before stabbing the fourth one in the eye, destroying it's brain and killing it. The fifth walker that got kicked to the ground began to get up, growling at Matt as it started to approach him once again.

He suddenly swung his machete down, slicing open the chest of the walker, before swinging it once more. The second swing created an X wound on the chest of the walker, however it didn't feel a thing thanks to it being undead. Matt stabbed the walker in the chest before it retracted his machete and impaled the walker through the head, killing it.

_But here's an FYI: you're all gonna die screaming_

_All we want to do is eat your brains_

_We're not unreasonable, I mean, no one's gonna eat your eyes_

Matt turned around to see a horde of walkers aimlessly walking around, completely naive of Matt's presence. He sighed a tired sigh as he heard the door of the shack opening. He turned around to see a man with ginger hair and a short ginger beard. He peeked out of the shed to see Matt staring at the corpses of the dead walkers in front of him, with his bloody machete in his hand.

"Hey, thanks." the man thanked.

However, Matt didn't hear him as his voice was muffled, as were every other sound around him. He turned around to see numerous amount of walkers aimlessly walking around as fire burnt in the distance. Matt suddenly looked down to see his revolver that was in his holster, a dark idea forming in his head. He grabbed his revolver and emptied the barrel, catching only a few of the bullets that fell.

_All we want to do is eat your brains_

_We're at an impasse here, maybe we should compromise_

Matt loaded the revolver halfway; half of it empty, half of it loaded. He suddenly fell on his knees as he inhaled a huge breath of air. He spun the barrel and brought down the hammer before bringing the gun towards his head, everything going silent around him as everything went in slow motion.

Matt prepared to pull the trigger, waiting for the sweet relief of death or the horrible existence of living. However, before he could fully pull the trigger, his gun was knocked up, causing him to actually pull the trigger. A loud gunshot was heard in the area, as a few crows cawed as they flew away.

Matt looked up to see the man staring down at Matt with horror in his eyes, not believing that he almost witnessed Matt commit suicide. Matt sighed heavily as he looked down in defeat, not ready to live another day, wanting to just die and move on into the afterlife.

_If you open up the door_

_We'll all come inside and eat your brains_

**Infection of the Dead: The Other Side of Life**

* * *

Over 90% of the human population has perished from the global conflict known as "the infection of the dead".

Many have suffered brutal deaths while some were denied of an afterlife and were left as a walking, rotting corpse.

Countless journeys brought to an end by the work of a madman, all for an insidious dream to come true.

It changed everything and everyone.

Yet it brought the most out of the surviving population that were hidden under normal circumstances, both good and evil.

What follows is a detailed story of a single survivor and how their life was affected by this so called "infection", as they continue their journey and survival to live in the new world.

They are not expected to survive.

* * *

"Everyone thinks that a new place or a new identity will jumpstart a new life."

* * *

**16 MONTHS LATER…**

An abandoned road littered with rusted and abandoned cars was shown, as several pieces of paper flew through the wind. Everything was eerily silent as the only sounds that could be heard was the wind whistling and the various crows cawing in the distance. During this last moment, a new sound could be heard in the abandoned street: growling. From a distance, one could see multiple people walking around aimlessly as the midday sun shined above them.

However, if one got closer, they would see that the people weren't actually people. Their skin was rotten to the core and decomposing as their eyes were golden yellow, while some of their teeth were also rotten and were missing. These people weren't alive… they were dead. They were dead men walking, or as they were popular known as roamers or walkers. Zombies to put it in popular terms.

A single walker growled as it swayed away from the horde of other walkers, approaching a corpse of a dead person. It suddenly bent over and grabbed the arm of the corpse before sinking it's teeth into the decomposing flesh, the flies still buzzing around it. As it devoured on the rotting corpse, a new pair of legs approached the walker that was feasting on the body.

A figure wearing a black hoodie with blood stains littering it, as well as the hood over their head, approached the walker, bumping into a different walker in the process. The walker that got bumped growled at the figure before it walked away; the feasting walker continued to devour the rotting skin as the figure behind it got closer and closer to it. At that very moment, the walker was pulled away from the corpse and suddenly, it's entire lower jaw was cut off by a single slice from a hunting knife.

The walker growled as it was forced up before being pushed into a huge horde of other walkers; the figure guiding the walker they were holding from behind. Various other walkers growled as they watched the figure casually march their way into the huge horde. The figure guided the walker that they were holding hostage through the huge horde, carefully trying not to bump into the other walkers.

Eventually, the figure made it to the end of the huge horde but continued to walk further away from the monstrous, walking dead cannibals as far away as possible. After a few more moments of walking, they were far away from the horde of walkers, before the figure pushed the walker they held hostage onto the ground. They suddenly bent down and stabbed the walker's skull with their autotronic, destroying the brain and killing it.

The figure stood back up and placed the hunting knife back into it's holster, before taking off the hood, revealing themselves to be Matt Dillon from before. Over the course of the months, Matt's hair was shorter as opposed to it's usual length that went to his upper back. His hair laid lazily over his shoulders as a light stubble could be seen on his face. His outfit consisted of the black hoodie he was wearing with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, exposing the bottom half of his arms. He also wore a dark purple shirt underneath, along with some brown pants and black sneakers. On his right wrists were several bracelets that were over a small black star tattoo on his wrist, while a few of his fingers had bandages on them. His left wrist was bandaged entirely, with a single, purple hairband hugged his left wrist tightly. A few of his fingers on his left hand were bandaged as well. His entire outfit was coated with blood and guts, both front and back, along with his entire face as well.

At that moment, he heard leaves rustling from behind him and turned around; suddenly, a man with short ginger hair and a ginger beard came out of the bushes. The man wore a purple track jacket along with black jeans and boots as well. Suddenly, a second man came out of the bushes, or this case, fell out of the bushes, having a terrified expression on his face. The ginger man panted as bent over, supporting himself as he grabbed onto his knees.

"I can't believe that walker guts trick worked." said the ginger man to Matt.

"'Course it did, Hunter." Matt replied. "The guts mask your scent from them and they can't tell if your alive or one of them."

Hunter panted some more. "That's the last time I ever doubt you, kid."

"Oh. So the whole 'warehouse' incident didn't prove a thing?" bantered Matt as he smiled at his companion. "That was the third time I saved your life, you know. You need to keep up."

"Hey, I told you that walker looked like it was dead." Hunter replied. "It could've fooled anyone just lying on the ground like that."

"Please." the second man pleaded. "Never do that again."

"Are you gonna show us this 'heaven' you were talking about earlier?" asked Matt in an impatient manner.

The man gulped. "Yes, yeah." he replied in a hasty manner. "It's uh… right down this road."

The man got up and began walking down the street, with Hunter and Matt following close behind. "Do you think this 'heaven' exists?" Hunter whispered to Matt.

"I don't know, Spector." Matt replied. "I don't even think heaven existed in the first place. I'm a realist, Hunter. I'm sorry, but I just can't see a utopia where all your fears are gone and you can have anything you want. Seems impossible. Personally, I'm a believer of hell, but not Heaven."

"Everyone has their beliefs." Hunter retorted.

"Hey," the man spoke up in a meek manner. "if you're done talking about me behind my back, we're here."

The three of them stopped walking as they stared at what was in front of them. Both Hunter and Matt had different expressions, with Hunter being in awe while Matt gave off an annoyed look.

"You've got to be kidding me." Matt said in an angry tone.

In front of them was a Save 4 Less store with the parking lot completely emptied, save for a few abandoned cars that have been stripped of it's resources. The windows were boarded up as makeshift balcony could be seen on top of the roof, indicating that someone once used this store as a form of shelter.

"A grocery store?" asked Matt in the same angry tone.

"I told you it's heaven." the man said.

"How exactly is this heaven?" asked Matt. "Every looter in this city must've already pillaged this place clean. The store's damnin' empty!"

"I didn't say the store was heaven." the man replied. "Inside, I managed to hide some food in one of the tiles in the store. It's in the ice cream section. A black tile with a red dot on it to disguise itself as a blood drop. You'll find what you need inside. Food, water, ammo. Everything you guys need."

"Then why were you trying to raid our camp?" Matt asked in a hostile tone as he grabbed the man's collar and brought him close to his face.

"I didn't have enough to survive for the night!" the man exclaimed in a scared tone. "All I was searching for was for a flashlight! I swear!"

"Kid, if he's telling the truth, why not check it out?" asked Hunter. "What reason would he have to lie anyway?"

"Listen to your friend, man." the man begged. "I have nothing left in my life! My sister got killed by a group of psychopaths! I've got nothing left to lose but I don't want to die! Honest!"

Matt squinted his eyes as he glared at the begging man in front of him, tears swelling up in his eyes. He closed his eyes as he sighed, before he shoved the man away from him. The man landed on his butt before he quickly began to back away.

"Please! Don't kill me!" the man begged.

"I'm not gonna kill you! Jesus Christ!" Matt exclaimed in annoyance. "I'm not some kind of monster. Just leave and never come back. If I find you raiding our camp again I will not miss the next time, you understand me?" Matt asked as his hand hovered over his Beretta M9. He suddenly reached for his backpack and grabbed a few items inside, before handing them over to the unnamed survivor.

"Here." Matt said. "Take this." Matt handed the man a granola bar, an apple, crackers, and an unopened water bottle. "You're lucky I value human life and if you're telling the truth about this secret stash of yours, then consider this as a reward."

The man smiled a huge smile as he got up and quickly taking the items in Matt's hand.

"Bless the Gods. Bless your kind soul." the man cheered.

"Just shut up and leave before I change my mind about the whole dead or alive thing." Matt threatened.

The man quickly got up and ran away into the town, leaving the two survivors on their own. Matt watched as the man left the area before disappearing deeper into the town, while Hunter stared at Matt with a smile on his face. The teen turned around to see his friend smiling at him.

"Don't look at me like that." Matt said in an annoyed matter.

"Someone's got a he-art." Hunter said in a sing-song tone.

"Shut up, Hunter." Matt muttered. "Let's just find this stash of his and get the hell out of this town and back to our camp. This place is starting to creep me out."

"It's like a ghost town, kid." Hunter said as he and Matt began walking through the almost empty parking lot littered with paper. "If I wasn't so afraid of the walkers and if I still had my TV crew, I would be excited and try to hunt down some ghosts."

"Correction: it IS a ghost town." Matt replied. "Still can't believe you believe in ghosts. They're not even real."

"That's because you haven't seen one before, kid." Hunter retorted.

"It's not that I haven't seen one before, it's more of 'realistic' fact about the paranormal and hoaxes about said paranormal… also ghosts are stupid."

"I have a feeling Danny Phantom wasn't your favorite show as a kid."

"What the hell is a Danny Phantom?"

The two walked over the broken glass door, which was basically a gaping hole at this point, and entered the abandoned grocery store. "Hello? Knock. Knock. Anyone home?" asked Hunter, his voice echoing in the store.

Inside the store was nothing but destruction. Some of the shelves were knocked over as blood practically replaced the floor as it stained the marble ground. Several dead bodies, both from the dead and some survivor corpses could be seen lying on the ground. Food and food items littered the floor as the only source of light was from the sun outside that leaked through the boarded windows.

"Jesus, this reminds of home." Matt said aloud.

Hunter looked at his friend with a confused expression with a hint of horror. "I'm not gonna ask why this reminds of that." Hunter says.

The two finally took a step in the store and began walking, trying to find the secret stash that the survivor was talking about. "I never thought I would end up scared of entering a grocery store." Hunter said as the two walked through the store. "Such a common place to meet up, buy groceries, talk amongst friends… now it's just… haunting. My grandmother used to ask me if I was a praying man… I wish I still was."

"It only shows to prove that you should cherish what you have…" Matt replied. "because you never know when you're gonna lose 'em."

"Amen to that, kid." Hunter replies.

Matt suddenly stopped in front of a display with a huge picture of a man with spiky black hair wearing a black suit with a white buttoned shirt underneath. The man in the picture also wore a pair of moss green suit pants while he was holding a camera. The title "PHOTOJOURNALIST" was written above the man.

"This guy looks like he's covered wars… Ya know?" Matt commented, before walking away to catch up to his friend.

The two entered a random aisle and immediately winced at the sight in front of them. The whole aisle was covered with nothing but blood and dead bodies, some with half their faces chewed off while another survivor had his mouth and lower jaw completely destroyed with a shotgun by their hand. Blood splatter could be seen staining the shelves that appeared to be going upwards, indicating that the survivor shot himself and ended his life with a shotgun.

"Clean up on aisle 12." Matt commented. He suddenly looked up to see the aisle number being completely written off with what appeared to be blood. "Or aisle… 'no hope'."

"I think that says 'no hoe'." Hunter said.

"Must've been in a rush. Wouldn't blame the guy." Matt says. "Come on. We don't want the stash to expire." Matt then walked off.

"The guy said it's in the ice cream aisle." Hunter said.

"I swear if he placed ice cream in there, I'm gonna throw a fit because of his stupidity." Matt says.

The pair walked passed a wall with graffiti on it that read: "don't startle the wi…" before it got cut off. Matt took a glance at the writing, paying little attention to it before continued walking. The two passed by a closed door with a small window, nothing but darkness inside. As Matt passed it, he could hear muffled cries coming from behind the door, prompting him to turn towards it.

The teen looked inside the window, seeing nothing but darkness inside. He cupped his hands around his eyes, trying to get a better look at what was inside. All while he was doing this, he continued to hear the muffled crying from inside the room.

"Matt!" Hunter called out, grabbing his attention.

The teen walked away from the door, leaving it and whatever was crying inside alone. At that moment, inside the room, a light flickered for a brief moment. In that moment, the light revealed what appeared to be a pale looking woman with long white hair and monstrous, bloody claws, all while she was in nothing but ripped underwear.

Matt and Hunter then entered the ice cream section, only to grow wide eyes at the sight in front of them. "You've got to be kidding me." Matt says in an annoyed manner. In front of them was an empty aisle that was covered in nothing but blood. "The dude said it's under a black tile with a red dot on it. How are we supposed to find the tile let alone the red dot underneath this red blood?"

"We can wipe away the blood." Hunter suggested.

"No can do," Matt lifted his foot only for the blood to continue to stick underneath the sole of his boot. "this blood is dry. How long does blood take to dry again?"

"I don't know." Hunter responded. "With this amount of blood, I'd say a few days. Maybe about a week."

"So this secret stash of his has been underneath these tiles for a few days… in a small, cramped space with no air?" Matt asked. "The food is definitely expired now with all that heat underneath. Can't believe I gave him our lunch as well! Now we're gonna have to raid another convenient store!"

"Well we should still look." Hunter says. "We don't know if it's expired yet."

"Yeah, good luck trying to find a red dot underneath this whole hallway of blood." Matt extended his arms, pointing at the entire hallway. He suddenly squinted his eyes and tilted his head. "Hey wait… was that tile always unattached?"

Hunter turned his head and squinted his eyes, noticing that one of the tiles was out of place. "That's weird." he says.

Matt took a step forward and began making his way to the unhooked tile. He bent over and grabbed the title, noticing a faint red dot on it; the teen turned around and waved the tile in the air. "This is our tile." he announced. "Someone beat us to it."

Hunter grew a disappointed expression as he sighed through his nose. He looked a little above Matt and grew wide eyes, before raising his hands in the air. Raising an eyebrow, Matt wondered why his friend would do such a strange action, until he heard the sound of a gun cocking behind him. He as well grew wide eyes as he realized the situation he was in. He turned around to be met with a kid that looked about to be around 9 or 10, pointing a revolver at him, barrel right in front of his face.

Matt quickly dropped the tile and stood up before backing up a bit, raising his hands in the air as an act of surrender.

"Woah! Easy, kid." Matt says. "We don't want any trouble."

"Give me your food." the kid threatened in a shaky voice.

"What?"

"Give me your food!"

"We don't have any food!" Matt exclaimed. "We just finished the last of it! That's why we came here to resupply and stock up on some more food!"

"You're lying!" the kid shouted as he stepped closer to Matt.

"I'm not lying!" Matt assured.

"I will shoot you, you know!" the kid shouted.

He suddenly waved his gun around, accidently opening the chamber of the revolver he was holding. Matt took a quick glance at the chamber of the revolver, noticing a big key detail: it wasn't loaded. Quickly looking back at the kid, Matt continued to retain his scared expression, pulling off an amazing poker face.

"Just put the gun down, kid. We can talk this out." Matt continued to negotiate with the child.

"Just give me your food!" the kid shouted.

"Kid, if you shout any louder, the horde of the dead that we just walked through will storm in here any moment now." Matt explained. "Keep your voice down. Where are your parents?"

"Where are _your_ parents?!" the kid retorted.

"They're… dead." Matt replied.

Though that he just admitted his parents were dead, he didn't show any sign of mental discomfort.

"Well so are mine!" the kid shouted.

"Kid, shut the fuck up!" Matt whispered loudly.

Hunter turned his head to look behind him, only to be met with a ghastly sight. At the front of the store was a huge horde of walkers, roaming inside the store and slowly making their way towards the three.

"Uh, guys." Hunter tried to speak up.

"You wanna get eaten? Because this is how you get eaten." Matt argued.

"Just give me your damn food!" the kid shouted even louder.

"Oooh, potty mouth much?" asked Matt. "What would mommy say about that? Oh right, I forgot, she's dead." Matt taunted him.

"Shut up!" the kid shouted.

"Guys!" Hunter shouted trying to grab their attention, but to no avail.

Instead, he grabbed his pocket knife from his holster, ready to kill any walkers if he had too.

"Kid, when I say put the gun down, that means you put the gun down." Matt told the child. "I don't know if you're stupid or your parents were siblings but when someone says 'they don't have food', it usually means that they don't have food!"

"Matt!" Hunter shouted, finally grabbing his friend's attention.

"WHAT?!" Matt shouted in anger. His eyes widened at the sight in front of him. "Oh." The walkers continued to growl as Hunter stabbed one of them in the eye with his dagger. "Well you could've warned me, dude. At least show that you care."

"Oh, screw you, lad!" Hunter shouted as he killed a second walker.

With his back turned to the kid, the child took this as an opportunity. Unbeknownst to Matt, the kid approached him from the back and swung his revolver, the barrel of the gun hitting the back of Matt's head.

"OW!" Matt shouted as he grabbed his head in pain before turning around. "What the hell are you doing, kid?! Now you pissed me off! If you're just gonna stand there and be useless, at least give me the gun so I can load it and shoot our way out of here."

"It is already loaded!" the child shouted.

Not even a second later, Matt swiped the gun away from the kid and pointed it to his own head, before pulling the trigger. A loud _**click!**_ sound could be heard afterwards, indicating that the revolver wasn't loaded.

"This is why kids shouldn't be allowed to have guns." Matt said in a deadpan manner.

"They were never allowed to have guns!" Hunter exclaimed from behind.

"Please don't hurt me!" the kid begged as tears began to well up in his eyes. "I just wanted food!"

The kid began back up, unknowingly heading straight towards an incoming walker from behind; Matt widened his eyes in horror.

"Kid, behind you!" Matt shouted.

The child turned around only to be met with a walker, growling at him as it began to bend towards him. The child screamed a high pitched scream in terror and began to back up. However, he slipped on the puddle of blood that coated the hallway and fell down, losing his balance and becoming vulnerable to an attack.

Matt aimed the revolver in his hand and pulled the trigger, only to be met with the same _**click!**_ sound again. He gasped at the realization that the revolver was still unloaded. He looked up just in time for the walker to bend over and sink it's teeth onto the kid's face, causing him to scream a high pitch scream.

At that moment, everything slowed down as Matt watched the kid get horrifically eaten alive right in front of him. His hearing began to echo as he turned around, seeing Hunter fending for himself as he was in the middle of stabbing a walker in the face.

He turned to the side and stared at the freezer window that used to store frozen foods inside, where he could see his reflection. At that moment, painful flashbacks flashed through his vision, as the screams of his friends and other fellow survivors echoed throughout his mind. He could see glimpses of a kid getting mauled to death, a survivor bashing another survivor's head in with a mace, as well as a single survivor getting his guts ripped out of his body. Matt stared horrifically at the hallucinations in front of him, all while the chaos continued to unfold around him.

"MATT!" shouted Hunter's muffled voice, snapping him back into reality. He turned to his friend to see him fighting off a huge horde of walkers. "We need to go! This place is getting overrunned!... BEHIND YOU!"

Matt turned around to see a walker growling at him, extending its arm to grab onto its prey. Thinking quickly, Matt punched the walker in the face, knocking it down to the ground. Afterwards, he stomped on the head of the walker with his sneakers, completely destroying the decomposing skull as well as it's brain.

He brought out his autotronic and kicked a walker in the knee, sending it to fall on it's legs, before he stabbed the head of the walker, killing it. He began backing up towards his friend, whom finished killing another walker, pushing it into the crowd.

"What about the kid?" asked Hunter.

"He's dead! Leave him! Let's go!" Matt ordered as he ran out of the aisle.

Hunter followed suit and the two began to run towards the back exit of the store. Along the way, they encountered more walkers, whom failed to grab the two of them in the dark grocery store. Eventually, they saw the emergency exit, safety on the other side. Unfortunately for Hunter, however, his ankle was grabbed by a crawling walker on the ground, causing him to trip and fall over.

"AAAAH!" Hunter screamed.

The walker growled as it began to crawl towards Hunter, whom began kicking it in the face to try and get it away from him. Matt suddenly stopped his running and turned around, determined to help his friend; he grabbed his autotronic and quickly stabbed the walker in the temple, killing it.

"Come on!" Matt shouted. "You're on a streak of cheating death! You really wanna lose it?"

"No way, lad!" Hunter exclaimed as he got back up on his feet thanks to Matt. "Just 5 more points and I can finally get that giant teddy bear I always wanted!"

Matt violently pushed the exit door and ran into the alleyway, followed by Hunter shortly behind. He however, suddenly stopped, as did Hunter, as the two stared at the sight in front of them. In front of them was the huge horde of walkers they walked through earlier, now pouring into the alleyway they were trapped in.

"Scheiße! (Shit!)" Matt shouted in German.

"This way! This way!" Hunter shouted.

He turned around and began running through the other end of the alley, with Matt following afterwards. However, he turned around too quickly and bumped into the exit door that they just ran out of, falling to the ground while hitting the dumpster in the process. Matt grabbed his head in pain as he lied on his back, hissing through his teeth. He opened his eyes to see a box full of stuff wobbling on top of the dumpster, daring to fall over.

Sure enough, the box fell, all of it's contents spilling out and falling towards Matt's face.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

Matt's scream, as well as his vision, was cut out as the contents fell on his face, knocking him out cold.

* * *

Everything was dark. Everything was silent.

Darkness and silence. That's all Matt could see and hear respectively.

That is, until he started hearing the sounds of fire crackling in a distance, before eventually he opened his eyes. At first, he didn't know where he was, though he presumed he was dead after the unfortunate accident that occured in the alleyway. Was this Hell? He didn't know.

Taking any course of action, Matt sat up, revealing himself to be inside of a tent in the midst of night. He examined his surroundings and saw the entrance to the tent, which lead to the outside world… presumably.

He grabbed the flaps of the tent and opened them, stepping outside. There he saw that he was in the middle of the woods, with a firepit in the middle of the campsite. Sitting at the firepit was Hunter, who began to pick at the cooked animal that was above the flames. The young adult turned head, seeing his fellow friend alive and awake.

"Hey, you." Hunter said. "You're finally awake. You were knocked out by that dumpster in the alleyway earlier today."

"How'd I get here?" Matt asked, rubbing his head.

"I dragged you here." Hunter replied. "What do you think? After you got knocked out, I had to do something. Those walkers were getting near your body by the second."

Groaning in slight discomfort, Matt sat down on the log opposite of his friend. "You should've let me die." Matt says in a breath.

"And be all alone?" Hunter asked. "No thanks. I'll take my chances with some brooding teenager than being all alone in this world."

Matt chuckled, obviously knowing that he was bantering. "At least this brooding teenager doesn't still believe in ghosts." he retorted.

Hunter chuckled some more as he picked at the dead fox over the firepit. "Now it's two to three." he said. "We're almost even on the amount of times we've saved each other's lives."

"Let's see, there was that time when you first met me. That's one." Matt began counting, recalling their previous adventures. "Then there was that time when we raided that military base and you thought it was a good idea to rescue that soldier chick. Little did you know that she was bitten and died that night. Had to get that son of a bitch off of you while you screamed in the middle of the night."

"Don't remind me." Hunter said. "I'm still ashamed I let such a beautiful woman get the best of me."

"Then there was the infamous 'warehouse raid'." Matt recalled once more. "Ended up blowing half of the building just to save your ass. Then finally, there was today at the grocery store."

"Same could be said about you, kid." Hunter said. "I saved you as well."

"That you did." Matt smiled. He suddenly grunted in pain as he rubbed his forehead. "I feel like I have a hangover. What fell on me by the way?"

"Ah, some useless junk." Hunter replied. "A clock. A broken laptop. The box was filled with old world items."

"Yeah well… Thanks for saving me." Matt said above a whisper, looking away from his friend.

Hunter smiled as he tilted his head. "Anytime." he says.

The two suddenly fell in complete silence, the only noise that could be heard was the fire crackling in front of them. It wasn't until Matt spoke up that broke the silence.

"It happened again." he whispered.

Hunter looked up, not having any reaction whatsoever. "The kid?" he asked.

"Yeah." Matt replied. "You would think I would get used to it. That I would get used to all of this… bloodshed and- and chaos happening in front of me… but I haven't. One of these days, these PTSD attacks are gonna get me killed."

"I don't think anyone would ever get used to any of this." Hunter says. "I'll be honest with you, kid, I didn't think we would make it this far. I thought I would've went on my first day."

"My first day was inside a military complex… or whatever day that was." Matt replies. "No one really knows when all of this started. There's no exact starting point… and I don't see an ending point either."

"It's been more than a year." Hunter says. "I don't think any of this is ending anytime soon."

"Yeah." was all Matt said.

The two fell in silence once again, only this time for a brief moment before Hunter spoke up. "Hey, you never told me about what your life was like before all this." he says. "You were obviously still young. Probably, 15… 16 at most."

"I don't even know." Matt says. "I don't want to talk about it. Not now at least. Trust me, Hunter, you've been with me for a long time now. I trust you fully. It's just that… it just brings up painful memories. That's all… I promise you, I'll tell you everything soon, but right now I just… I just want to eat and go to sleep."

"You and me both, kid…" Hunter whispered as he looked at the cooked fox over the fire pit. "You and me both." The two remained silent for another moment. "I'm gonna get more wood."

"Stay safe." Matt says above a whisper.

"Will do."

With that, Hunter walked deeper into the woods to retrieve some more firewood and fuel for the fire pit, which was slowly dying. Matt stared at the dying flames, noticing them getting smaller and smaller by the second. He sighed in defeat and exhaustion as he lowered his head.

This day was not going well for him.

* * *

The next day, Matt and Hunter walked out of the woods, passing a road sign that said ENTERING HIGH POINT. Matt wielded what appeared to be a shock prod custom painted with red and purple paint, while Hunter wielded a P22 in his hand.

"Telekinesis ooooor… Electrokinesis?" asked Hunter. Matt responded by turning on his shock prod, electricity sparking. This caused Hunter to chuckle. "Should've expected you to take the most destructive power. Fits you perfectly."

"Telekinesis could be destructive if you think about it." Matt responded. "You can lift up boulders with your mind and throw them into buildings, cars, the middle of the city. You can cause real mayhem."

"Alright. Alright." Hunter chuckled. "Um, let's see… Pyrokinesis or… Earth Manipulation?"

"Can I cause earthquakes with Earth Manipulation?" asked Matt.

"I don't see why not." Hunter responded.

Matt took a moment to think about it before shrugging. "Eh, I'll take fire." he says.

"Tsh. Of course." Hunter shakes his head.

The two continued walking down the empty, abandoned road littered with junk and rusty abandoned cars that have been stripped. No walkers appeared to be in sight as they passed many abandoned stores, many of their windows either boarded or shattered.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something for quite a while now." Hunter says. "It's something personal that I haven't gotten my mind off of. You're free to decline if you want but I just… I don't know. We've been traveling together for a good while now and I feel like we trust each other. Right?"

"What is it?" asked Matt, looking up at Hunter.

Hunter remained silent for a brief moment before he spoke up. "How come you don't want us to join any groups?" he asked.

Matt immediately stopped walking, indicated by his shoes scratching the ground. Hunter stopped as well, curious as to why his friend stopped walking. He noticed Matt had a somber expression as he looked down, avoiding eye contact as much as possible.

"It's just…" he says. "It's just safer that way. No big groups means no drama. No enemies. No walker invasions. We just keep moving and keep surviving. That's how we always done it."

"Yeah, but, but kid, we can't keep doing that." Hunter says. "One of these days we're gonna get ourselves screwed out there if we don't have a big group to protect us."

"Last time I was in a big group, I lost everything." Matt says, looking up to finally make eye contact with Hunter. "I don't want to go through it again."

Hunter sighs. "I understand." he says above a whisper. "But… one of these days… We're gonna _have_ to find a group."

"I know." Matt says. "I guess I'm just… just prolonging the inevitable. I just have bad experiences with big groups, you know."

"Seriously, what happened with you before I met you?" Hunter asked.

"Don't worry about it." Matt says. "I'll tell you one day." The two continued walking down the empty street, coming across a 7/11. "Alright, same as before. We go in. Get what we need. And leave."

"What do we need?" Hunter asked.

"Food. Water… Medicine if we're lucky." Matt replies.

"I doubt the alarm will go off, so I guess it won't be that much of a problem."

"Then let's hop to it."

Matt then began walking towards the convenience store, with Hunter following close behind. The two approached the broken glass doors of the 7/11, carefully stepping over the glass as they stepped inside the small, dark convenience store. Most of the shelves were swiped clean, leaving only the bare minimum on said shelves.

"There ain't a lot to take." Hunter says. "Maybe we can come back here later. If we take only half of this shelf, and one-third of that shelf over there, we should have enough-"

"Dude, fuck Math. Just take everything." Matt says as he unloads the entire shelf into his backpack.

Hunter stared at Matt with an emotionless expression, blinking once, before shrugging. "Okay." he simply says. "We're like the Bare Minimum Bandits. We only take the bare minimum."

"Yeah. That's why I used to live in a condo." Matt unemotionally says afterwards, dropping a candy bar into his bag.

At that moment, growling could be heard coming from behind a door, startling poor Hunter.

"Did you hear that?" Hunter asked.

"Yep. That's my stomach. I'm starving." Matt says as he takes a bite from a chocolate bar he just grabbed.

"No. No. That sounds like a walker." Hunter says. "I'm gonna take a look."

"Don't get yourself killed, Hunter." Matt absentmindedly says as he loads a water bottle in his bag.

Hunter walked over to the back office of the 7/11, where the sounds of a walker growling could be heard inside. He cautiously stepped inside, readying his knife for any surprise attack. He turned the corner only to be met with a horrific sight that caused him to nearly drop his knife as his eyes went wide with horror.

In front of him was a walker slumped up against the wall, with it's arms and legs cut off along with it's jaw, while it's torso was cut open, it's guts spilling onto the floor. Hunter grabbed his mouth and gagged, trying his best to keep his stomach in.

"Oh God." he said in a muffled tone of disgust.

"Hunter, what the fuck are you doing?" Matt asked as he walked in the room, candy bar still in his hands.

He turned his head to the face the walker and immediately turned around, bending over while he formed a fist at his mouth. "What in the name of all things Holy?" he asked. "What happened to him? Who did this?"

"I don't know." Hunter coughed. "But the smell is getting to me."

"This guy was alive." Matt says.

Hunter gave him a bewildered look. "What?" he asked in extreme confusion. "What makes you think that?"

"Look at his skin." Matt says. "It's pale, and the blood is fresh, and the hair is still there. The walkers we've seen barely have any hair at all, all rotted away. But this one… this one still has his hair."

"So what are you saying?" Hunter asked.

"I'm saying, someone else killed him." Matt says. "It looks personal as well."

"Dude, the fact that you know so much about this kind of stuff scares me." Hunter says.

Matt suddenly took a bite at his candy bar as he continued to stare directly at the walker in front of them. He then began to walk towards the walker, grabbing his shockprod from his back and powering it up. He suddenly used all of his strength and force to stab the shock prod into the head of the walker, before powering it up, electrocuting the brain of the walker, killing it.

He took the shock prod out of the walker's head and turned around, heading towards the exit of the back office.

"Well…" he swallowed the chunk. "let's not find out who did this. I'm starting to lose my stomach either way just by staring at the poor guy. I already got my share."

"Did you get as much as possible?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah, I looted half the store, considering that this place is almost empty." Matt replies. "Get the rest of the food. I'll stand guard outside and watch out there."

With that, Matt and Hunter exited the back office of the convenience store, with Hunter taking a final glance at the dead walker slumped up against the wall. He couldn't help but wonder who would do such a thing like this; in that final glance, he saw what appeared to be a scar of some sort on the chest of the walker. The letters TW carved into the walker's chest, now scarred.

A few minutes later, Matt was standing outside the convenience store, taking a bite out of his candy bar before dropping the wrapper to the ground.

"Kid." Hunter's voice came from behind as he exited the store, backpack slung over his shoulder. "That's littering."

"Really?" Matt asked in an annoyed manner. "You're complaining at me littering when we just raided a convenience store."

"Just trying to look out for Mother Earth." Hunter says.

Matt gave him a bewildered expression, before dramatically waving his arm behind him, showcasing the street which was littered with paper and other junk, along with abandoned, rusty cars that have been stripped.

"I don't think I'm the problem here." Matt says in one breath.

"I'm just saying." Hunter says. "Littering is bad."

Matt stayed quiet for a brief moment before shaking his head. "Jesus Christ." he whispers in annoyance. "How I managed to get stuck with you is beyond my knowledge."

The two of them began walking down the street again.

"Come oooon." Hunter smiles at him. "You know you love me."

"I don't _love_ you. I tolerate you." Matt replies.

"Still counts."

"No it doesn't!"

"If you really think about it, love is just tolerable liking." Hunter says.

With that comment, Matt stops and give Hunter a bewildered expression. Another moment of silence passed them.

"I hate the fact that you're right about that." Matt says as he starts walking away.

Hunter laughed as he walked next to his friend. "Where are we gonna camp tonight?" he asked.

"I don't know." Matt says. "Probably find a house and hold up there for the night. I don't want to camp in the woods again. Too risky and too out in the open. With houses, we'll be safe. Walkers can't open doors and we'll be sleeping, making no noise."

"That's what they said about the raptors in Jurassic Park, and they opened the cafeteria kitchen door." Hunter says.

"Yeah, but those Velociraptors are smart. Walkers are just a bunch of dumbasses." Matt says.

"It would be nice to spend the night in an actual house now that I think about it." Hunter responds. "Let's find a big, BIG mansion and call it own, yeah?"

"Heh, if we find one." Matt says. "But the day is still young. We still got more looting to do."

"There's only so much looting we _can_ do before our backpacks get full." Hunter reminds. "Plus we don't even have a destination. We're not traveling to some safe haven or anything. We're just traveling. We can't keep continue looting. Which brings up my earlier point, we NEED to find a group."

"I know!" Matt shouts. He sighs afterwards. "I know. Just give me time, alright."

"Time is something we both don't have, and have all the time in the world at the same time." Hunter says.

"You said 'time' three times." Matt says in annoyance.

"I can say it a fourth time." Hunter could barely contain his laughter as he began to chuckle to himself.

Matt glared at him before chuckling himself, shaking his head in annoyance. "I hate you so much." he giggled.

"I still like you, kid." Hunter replies as he brings his friend closer to him.

The two continued to walk down the street, with the noon sun high above them, shining upon them. The two were more than ready to face the day ahead of them, together as friends.

"Freezing breath powers or the ability to fly?" Hunter asked.

"Ability to fly." Matt says.

* * *

A single walker roamed an empty street, as the moon illuminated the night, while crickets made their music in the distance. The growling walker suddenly turned around and growled louder, seeing something of interest; at that moment, a knife was plunged into the skull of the walker, killing it instantly.

The owner of the knife was revealed to be Hunter, whom pushed the dead walker to the ground before placing his knife back in its holster. Matt was standing beside him, keeping a lookout for any walkers that would sneak up on them.

"We need to find a place to stay for the night." Matt says. "It's too dangerous out here at night."

"I was thinking the same thing." Hunter reveals. "Most of these houses aren't even secure well enough. They're all just mostly abandoned with shattered windows. We need to find a secure…" He suddenly stopped talking as he looked ahead of him. "There." he says.

Matt turns to his side. "What?" he asked.

Hunter pointes to what was in front of him, followed by Matt looking at the direction he was pointing at. There, at the end of the street was a common two story house with all the windows boarded up. It seemed pretty intact from a distance, though they had no idea how it looked like in the inside.

"You sure that place is secure?" Matt asked.

"It's got to be." Hunter says. "It's the only house on the block big enough with actual boarded windows. Come on."

With that, the adult of the two began making his way towards the house, while Matt hesitantly stayed behind.

"What if someone's living there?" Matt asked.

Hunter turned around but didn't stop walking. "Then we ask politely." was all he said as he continued to walk.

Matt let out an exasperated sigh as he shook his head before he too began making his way towards the house. "You're gonna get us killed." Matt whispers to himself.

The two approached the heavily boarded house, cautious of any walkers that could sneak up on them. After a few moments of walking down the street under the nighttime sky with no walkers in sight, the two finally arrived at the barricaded house. The two stood in front of the closed entrance, unsure on how to proceed; that is until Hunter began casually knocking on the door.

"_What_ are you doing?" Matt whispered in an annoyed tone.

"Trying to see if anyone's home." Hunter responded nonchalantly. They waited for a few moments waiting to see if there was anyone in the house. "I don't think they're home."

"Yeah, no shit, Einstein." Matt said in a harsh tone. "This whole neighborhood is abandoned! I doubt anyone is even here. We're probably the only live people here… Well…" Matt turned around to see the empty, dead street behind him. "Live people that count."

"Still." Hunter spoke up. "That means this house could be our ticket to stay."

"Okay." Matt replied. "So… How do we get in?"

"Maybe there's a window?"

"Good luck with that. This whole place is boarded up."

"Hmmm." The two were stuck in silence as they tried to think of several possibilities to get in the house. "Hey, kid. You know how to pick a lock, right?"

Matt gave him a bewildered expression. "What the fuck? Why would you ask that?" he asked in an offended tone.

"Well. You're… you know… a delinquent?" Hunter sheepishly replied, giving a nervous smile.

"Oh, you are NOT saying what I think you're saying." Matt said in a disgusted tone.

"Jesus, man, I'm from the West Coast!" Hunter rapidly replied. "Crazy shit comes out of my mouth all the time."

Matt heavily sighed in pure annoyance as he hung his head low, before looking at the lock in front of them. "Let me see if I can try something with this." He bent down and examined the doorknob, trying to figure out how to lock pick the thing.

"Do you have a bobby pin?" Matt asked.

"No." Hunter responded.

"Well, do you have _any_ light… metal object that can fit in a keyhole?"

"I have a screwdriver."

Matt turned to Hunter in disbelief. "Why in the hell do you have a screwdriver?" he asked in disbelief.

"Hey, you asked if I had anything and I answered." Hunter defended on his part.

Matt groaned in annoyance as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. "Okay, well… how big is the screwdriver?"

Hunter reached into his pocket and pulled out a big screwdriver, obviously too big to fit in the lock. Matt groaned in defeat as he waved him off.

"Ahh, too big. It won't fit." Matt says. A sudden look of realization hit him. "That sounded nasty." He grunted as he stood up again. "I don't think I can pick this lock. Not without the proper tools and all. Besides, even if I did pick it, the lock would be messed up, meaning the door wouldn't properly closed, _MEANING_ we'll be sitting ducks in here, asleep with an unlocked door in the middle of the night."

Hunter sighed in defeat as he hung his head low. "So that's it?" he asked. "Just give up?"

"Well I don't see another way to get in." Matt says as he places his hands to his hips. "And I really don't want to spend another night out in the woods."

"Maybe we should check around back?" Hunter suggested.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Come on, let's check out back."

With that said, the two climbed over the porch railings, heading towards the backyard of the house. The two approached a gate with Matt leading up front; the teen opened the gate and immediately spotted two walkers lingering around in the backyard.

"Shit!" Matt whispered loudly as he backed up, closing the gate in the process.

"What? What is it?" Hunter asked.

"Walkers. Two of them." Matt answered. "You have your knife?"

Hunter pulled out his knife and flashed a smile. "Never leave home without it." he says.

Matt chuckled. "You take the one on the left, I take the one on the right."

"Roger that, General." Hunter whispered.

Matt shot him a look. "Never say that again." he says in a serious tone.

With the plan in their heads, Matt opened the backyard gate and began to sneak up to the two unsuspecting walkers. Matt suddenly stood up and with all his strength, kicked the walker in front of him in the back of the left leg, sending it falling down to the ground. With one swift motion, Matt slammed the tip of his knife onto the temple of the walker, successfully killing it.

Hunter could be seen throwing his own walker down onto the ground after killing it as well. The two then faced the house, looking for a way to get in. Unfortunately for them, it didn't look like there was a way to get in.

"I don't see a way to get in back here." Matt says.

Hunter points towards the backyard door. "Try the door." he says.

Matt approached said door and grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, not even going an inch. "It's locked." Matt says.

"Great." Hunter says in an exasperated tone. He suddenly looked up and noticed that one of the windows wasn't boarded up. "Up there. For some reason, that window isn't boarded up. Maybe we can get in through that way."

"Okay?" Matt says skeptically. "Well, I don't see a ladder anywhere, so how do you propose we get up there?"

Hunter simply looked over at Matt and gave an emotionless expression, confusing the poor, unsuspecting teen.

"What?" Matt asked, utterly confused.

Hunter wobbled in place as Matt stood on his shoulder, as the teen desperately tried his best to reach the ledge of the window. "I hate you so much right now." Matt says.

"Just get the window open." Hunter says.

"I'm trying! Just stand still, you fucking cunt!"

"Have you ever had anyone stand on your shoulders? It's easier said than done!"

"For God's sake, Hunter. Shut up and don't let go!"

"Next time eat a salad!"

"Thanks! I'll be sure to eat a nutricious salad in the middle of the fucking forest where mostly anything is poisonous!" Matt shouted sarcastically.

"Just grab the window ledge!"

"I'm trying but your constant wobbling ain't making things easier! God, you whine more than my ex-boyfriend!"

"You try holding someone the size of yourself on your shoulders and maintaining your balance!"

"Hunter, I swear to God, I will purposely kick you in the fucking face if you don't shut up! Now stand still, I've almost reached the damn thing."

Matt waved his arm by the window ledge before finally grabbing a firm grip on it.

"I've got it!" Matt exclaimed.

He placed his other hand on the window sill before he began to try and open the window. However, the window wouldn't budge, no matter how much force Matt put on the thing.

"It's locked!" Matt whispered loudly.

"Great." Hunter muttered to himself as he looked down before he looked back up at his friend. "What do we do now?"

"Don't worry. I've got this."

Without saying another word, Matt pulled out his shock prod that was hanging on his belt. He pushed a button which immediately extended the rest of the shock prod before turning it around, now holding the butt of the prod. He suddenly then smashed the window with the prod, completely shattering the glass in the silent night.

Hunter jumped in surprise, startled by the sudden loud noise in the silent night.

"Bloody hell, kid!" Hunter scolded in a loud whisper. "Did you really have to do that?! A loud noise on a silent night could be heard for miles! Lurkers could be all over us any minute now! You could've compromised our whole position!"

Matt turned around, seeing a forest behind the backyard that they were in. "I don't see any dead dumbasses." Matt says. "So I think we're good."

"Of course you don't see them!" Hunter shouts in a loud whisper. "It's the middle of the bloody night!"

"Quit your crying you shit cunt and boost me up already!"

With that, Hunter threw up slightly, enough for Matt to grab onto the window sill and look inside the room. "Do you see anything?" Hunter asked.

Matt squinted his eyes to try and get a better look at the dark room he was hanging off of. "Ah, for what it's worth, it looks empty." Matt replies. "I don't think anyone is here since they would've came to check out the sound of a window smashing."

"So that's good right?" Hunter asked. "We're the only one's here."

"It looks like it." Matt says.

The teen used all of his strength to pull himself up, eventually getting his upper body over the broken window before his entire body fell through and inside the dark room. Matt lifted himself up as he grabbed the edge of the window for support, groaning in pain in the process. His attention was suddenly turned to the side to see a dead body with a bullet hole right smack on the forehead, scaring the poor teen.

He yelped in surprise as he physically jumped backwards, not expecting a dead body to be in the room. He grabbed his heart from the sudden scare of a dead body, before hardening himself. He walked over to the window and looked down.

"We've got a body." He says.

"Is that the only one?" Hunter asked.

"Not sure. There may be more in the house but this one looks like it was shot in the head."

"Suicide?"

"No. Forehead. Like someone executed him. And I don't see a gun around and the body looks like it's been dead for a good 2-3 weeks just based on the level of decomposition."

"How do you so much about human decomposition?" Hunter asked in a scared tone.

"It's the zombie apocalypse." Matt reasons. "Is that really a surprising fact about anyone nowadays? I'm gonna throw the body over the window. Watch yourself."

"Will do." Hunter says as he turns around, pulling out his knife in the process.

Matt grabbed the dead body and dragged it over the window before using his whole strength to lift it over the edge of said window before dropping it down below. "Heads up!" Matt called out. The body then landed with a muffled THUD upon impact; the teen peeked his head over the window.

"Come out to the front." Matt called out. "I'm gonna get the door open."

"Okay." Hunter says. "I'll meet you out front."

With the orders said aloud, the two headed their own ways from both outside and inside the house. Matt exited the dark room he was in and walked into the hallway, which was littered with bullets and blood. He then proceeded to walk down the stairs, passing some family portraits along the way. Finally, after a few moments, he was at the front door, with a little table right next to it.

Matt turned to the table and saw a photo frame of two twins, with the names "Finn Quinn" written on the photo. Thinking nothing of it, Matt turned his attention to the door once more, before unlocking it and opening it. From the other side was revealed to be Hunter smiling at Matt.

"Took you long enough." Hunter says in a cheeky manner.

"It's been 15 seconds." Matt replies in a deadpan voice as Hunter marches his way into the house.

Suddenly, as Matt closed the door and locked it, Hunter immediately grew a disgusted expression as he covered his nose. "AUGH!" he yelled in disgust. "What is that smell?!"

"What smell?" Matt asked, genuinely confused.

"You're telling me you don't smell that?! It smells disgusting!"

"What are you talking about?"

Hunter turned his head to the living room, seeing a few dead bodies in there. "Augh! No wonder! There are corpses everywhere!"

"Huh?" Matt questioned, turning his head to the living room. "Oh, you're right. There are. How'd I miss that?"

"How are you so calm about this?!" Hunter asked in bewilderment.

"About what?"

"That there are corpses all over the place! How do you not smell the decomposing bodies?!"

"I dunno." Matt said as he placed his hands behind his head. "I guess I'm just used to it."

"How are you so used to the smell of dead bodies?!"

Matt shot him a deadpan look. "Hunter," Matt says. "I've been surrounded by dead bodies for a long time, and I ain't talkin' about the walkers. I'm talkin' about actual dead bodies. Bodies that don't come back to life. I've smelled my share of corpses to the point where I don't even notice the smell anymore."

"You poor, poor soul." Hunter says, clenching his nose.

"Ah shut up and help me move these bodies to the backyard." Matt says as he walks over to one of the corpses.

* * *

Matt walked back inside the house, having come from outside from the backyard after finishing piling all the corpses in one spot. He then proceeded to lock the backyard door so no intruders, though highly unlikely, would, well… intrude into their area. Afterwards, he walked over to the living room, which still smelled like decomposing bodies that have been lying there for weeks. Though Matt didn't notice this, nor did he care.

He then turned his attention to the stairway, realizing his friend was already upstairs and most likely in bed. He turned back to the front door to make sure it was locked. Sure enough, both locks were locked, and to make extra precautions, Matt hooked the chain on top of the door, so that way if anyone would lockpick the door, they would still have trouble getting in.

Afterwards, he proceeded to walk up the stairs and into the bedroom that both he and Hunter agreed they would sleep in that night. He opened the door to see Hunter laying on the bottom bunk of the bunk bed; upon entering, Hunter turned his head and smiled at his friend.

"Hey there." Hunter says.

"I wanted the bottom bunk." Matt says as he closes the door.

"Too late. I called dibs."

"You can't call dibs as soon as you take something. That ruins the whole point of dibs."

"I called it earlier."

Matt grabbed the ladder of the bunk bed, ready to head up, before he looked at his friend with a smile. "When?" he laughed.

"When we were hauling those bodies out in the backyard." Hunter reveals.

"You mean when I was hauling them out while YOU stayed behind to proceed and gag at the sight of a dead body." Matt playfully corrected.

"Still don't know how you kept your stomach intact." Hunter says.

Matt climbed the ladder and got on top of the bed above Hunter, before lying down. "You get used to it." he says.

"You keep saying that. 'You'll get used to it.' What does that even mean?" Hunter asks.

"It's pretty self explanatory, really." Matt retorts.

"No, you airhead, I meant what do you mean by all this dark talk you've been saying these passed few days?" Hunter asked. "Like, how do you know so much about human decomposition and why are you so calm when there's a bunch of dead bodies everywhere and why are you so used to the smell of dead bodies… I should rephrase everything I just said: What is it with you and dead bodies?... You're not a necrophiliac, are you?"

"Jesus, Hunter! No!" Matt shouted in disgust. "It's just… You really don't wanna know."

"What?" Hunter asked. "What your life was like before the outbreak and before I met you?"

"Yeah." Matt says above a whisper.

"Seriously, you've gotta tell me what ha-"

"I'll tell you when I'm ready!" Matt harshly interjected, startling poor Hunter.

The two laid down in silence in the dark room in the middle of the night. Matt stared at the ceiling above him and began daydreaming, or in this case, nightdreaming, on whatever was on his mind.

"Where were you when it all happened?" Hunter suddenly asked.

Matt was silent for a moment. "Home." he says. "I was in the basement when I heard screaming coming from upstairs. The door was locked so I had to kick it down, and when I did, I saw my parents getting mauled to death by a dozen walkers. My mom was pregnant at the time, so…" Down below, Hunter sighed through his nose in sympathy.

"Anyway," Matt's voice spoke up again. "I got cornered at the end of the hallway and I began fighting them off. At the time, I didn't know the head was the part of the body that you had to destroy. It just made sense naturally. Aim for the head to kill anything. The brain is the engine to the body and if you take that out, then the whole body becomes useless, or in this case, dead. I killed, maybe seven of the walkers before the whole house eventually got overrunned. Ended up jumping out the window behind me and escaping onto the street. That's when I saw everything go to hell. Everywhere I saw. Just death all around me. I saw people escaping in their cars, some getting run over by escaping cars. I even saw this one old lady getting eaten _in_ her car. I wanted to get out of there as fast as I could so I ended up jumping the fence and began running through the forest…

Eventually, I managed to come across a military helicopter, picking up survivors and I was one of the lucky ones to get on board. So, I'm in this helicopter for God knows how long and eventually we make it to this military base… 'F course, nothing lasts forever. I distinctly remember which day all hell broke loose. Day 49. This guy killed another man over a fight for food. We didn't know what to do with the body so we just left it there overnight, wanting to take care of it the next day. Unfortunately, there was no next day. Damn guy turned in the middle of the night and began eating the man that killed him. He let out this girlish scream and woke everyone up in the complex. It was like a forest fire. One match eventually turns into an inferno and causes destruction all around. It only took one guy. One guy to up and ruin this safe haven… I watched as everyone all around me get torn to death by the living dead… I was the sole survivor of that complex, kind of how I was the sole survivor of my family. Shortly afterwards, I got into this group of survivors but… Anyway, that's a story for another day."

Hunter sighd through his nose as he turned his attention to the wall, seeing a kid's drawing taped to it.

"What about you?" asked Matt.

"I was with my television crew when it all happened." Hunter says. "We were filming down in New Orleans and one of our guys got bit by what we thought was a mental patient. We rushed him over to the hospital only to find out that he wasn't the only victim to a biting accident. Dozens of people being treated for what they thought was malaria. Whole hospital got overrunned that night. I barely escaped with my crew and we hid out in an old pharmacy in the town until that got overrunned as well. Lost one person that night. Eventually, the military began bombing the city and so we evacuated across a bridge and escaped via a military helicopter. Brought us across the state of Louisiana until the bloody helicopter crashed. Turns out we had a bite victim in our group that died sometime in the ride and attacked the pilot, caused the whole helicopter to crash in a swamp. Me and a few other people survived the wreck and started wandering the swamp until we game across this old, rundown plantation house.

We hid out there for a few months until we ran short of supplies and eventually, the dead overruned the place. We eventually got saved by this guy driving a boat in the river. He had like a Cajun accent or something. Anyway, it turns out, one of the guys we were with was, get this, BITTEN. Crashed the boat onto the shore. Lost the final member of my television crew to that bite victim. Had to put her down. I was on my own for the better part of two days before I wandered into a forest and got trapped inside a shack. Then, that's when you found me and saved me. Thanks again."

"Ah, no problem." Matt says as he turns his head back to the ceiling.

"I still can't believe you were gonna shoot yourself." Hunter says. "Why would you do that?"

Matt was silent for a moment, unsure on how to properly respond. "Sometimes I envy the dead." Matt whispers loud enough for his friend to hear.

"Well I'm glad I saved you." Hunter replies. "Wouldn't have met an awesome partner like you."

Matt scoffed silently. "Yeah, me too." he says, hiding some deep, mental pain. "Get some sleep, alright? We deserve it."

"Night, kid." Hunter says as he closes his eyes.

Matt stayed silent for another moment, before speaking up. "G'night, man." he finishes.

As Hunter immediately falls asleep, Matt stays up, unable to fall asleep and instead, continued to look at the ceiling above him, as his head rested on the pillow, his hands underneath it.

He didn't fall asleep until hours later.

* * *

Matt's eyes suddenly shot wide open as he gasped for air. He immediately began to examine his surroundings, only to find out… there were no surroundings to examine. Instead, he was standing in the middle of a pitch black area, except he could see his whole body perfectly clear. He turned all around him only to be met with more blackness, unable to find any source of life anywhere.

His short, silent breaths echoed in the darkness as his eyes sped everywhere, desperately trying to find something, anything for that matter.

At that moment, a scream suddenly erupted in the area, startling Matt as he turned around. To his horror, he saw a girl getting eaten by a walker, as she extended her hand towards Matt, desperate for help. However, the teen froze up and could only watch in horror as the girl got eaten alive in front of her.

And then, just like that, the girl and the walker suddenly disappeared, turning into fog and silently dissipating in the wind. Shortly afterwards, voices began to echo around Matt.

_**Your fault. Your fault. Your fault…**_

_**They're dead. They're dead. They're dead…**_

_**Madness breaking. Madness breaking. Madness breaking…**_

"Who's there?!" Matt shouted as he grabbed his revolver from his holster.

At that moment, a shadow appeared above Matt, prompting the teen to shoot aimlessly at said shadow. The bullets only disappeared into the darkness as Matt was left breathing heavily, panting even, as his pupils shrunk and started to shake vigorously.

_**Identity. Identity. Identity…**_

_**Reality. Reality. Reality…**_

_**Insanity. Insanity. Insanity…**_

Matt continued to pant in place as he held his revolver by his head, ready to shoot anything that would dare harm him. All he could see was black, unable to tell if it was pure, pitch darkness, or just simple a black background.

He didn't have time to find out when suddenly a walker version of himself emerged right in front of him and growled viciously right in front of his face.

Matt violently gasped for air as he sat up, clutching his heart as he continued to breathe heavily. He looked all around him to see that he was still in the same children's bedroom that he and Hunter were sleeping in that night. He looked under the top bunk that he was sleeping on to make sure that Hunter didn't wake up from his violent gasps for air.

Fortunately for him, Hunter was still asleep, evident by his light snoring. Matt let out a breath of relief and turned back to the top bunk, going back to lying down. He suddenly began to rub his eyes as he began to lightly sob quietly in the night.

"Shit." he whimpers as he sobs some more.

* * *

A sign is shown, that said GREENSBORO, as a walker roamed an empty street, passing by an abandoned, rusty car that was stripped of it's parts. A little off in the distance was Matt and Hunter, walking underneath the clouded skies in the midmorning. Matt wielded his shock prod while Hunter had the backpack filled with their necessities slung over his shoulder.

"You ever wonder if this whole plague was made by someone or it was natural?" Hunter suddenly asked.

"I don't know, Hunter." Matt says. "I honestly don't care at this point. I just want all of this end."

"You and me both, kid." Hunter says.

Eventually, they turned the corner and stopped dead in their tracks. "Oh come oooooooon." Matt whined.

In front of them was a crashed helicopter, completely blocking the street. In the pilot seat was a walker in a pilot uniform, obviously the pilot. It growled as it turned it's head towards the two, extending it's arms to try and reach them. But because it was buckled up in it's seatbelt, it got nowhere.

"We can head back." Hunter suggests.

"And go back through that deserted neighborhood?" Matt asks. "Trust me, Hunter. There's nothing for us back there. We're just gonna have to find a way around this wreck."

"We could go through the building and jump out from the other side." Hunter suggests.

"Yeah, but the buildings may be infested with walkers." Matt says.

"Then we could climb over the helicopter." Hunter suggests once more.

"I guess that's our only option." Matt says in a saddened tone. The two began to walk over to the end of the destroyed helicopter. "Be on your guard. Walkers could show up anywhere."

Hunter was the first to climb up, with Matt keeping guard behind. After a moment, Hunter got on top of the helicopter before turning around, extending his hand. "Grab on." he says.

Matt turns around and reached out his own hand, before their hands collided and conjoined with one another. Hunter used all his strength to pull Matt up. Eventually, the two were now on top of the helicopter. Just one more jump and they were officially over it. However, the two took their time to look at they couldn't see before, finding it completely empty, littered with papers and rusty cars.

"Street looks deserted." Matt says. "That's a good sign."

"Well. No waste on staying up here." Hunter says as he jumps down.

Matt lets out a breath of air as he watches Hunter land on his feet, before turning around, smiling at him. He looks back up at the street and grows a defeated expression. "Times like these really makes me wonder why I'm even trying." he says.

"What are you talking about?" Hunter asks.

"I mean… Look at this!" Matt exclaims, extending his arms outward. "Sooner or later we're going to die! You're either gonna get disemboweled or worse, and I'll probably end up shooting myself in the head! Why even continue on like this?"

"Oh come on, kid." Hunter tried to cheer his friend up. "It ain't so bad. With the apocalypse, there are no rules, no politics. None of those shenanigans."

"Yeah, instead, we got different shenanigans. Walking corpses amongst trying to eat us. Neverending battles with other communities! Cannibals that you had no idea they were cannibals until after you spent a month with them as well as eating their 'special' meat."

Hunter stared confusingly at his friend. "Huh?" he asked, utterly confused.

Matt rolled his eyes to the back of his head in annoyance before sighing in equal annoyance. "Forget it." he says. "I'm coming down."

With that, Matt jumped down from the helicopter, landing on solid ground. "Nice landing. 9 out of 10." Hunter says.

"Shut up, Hunter." Matt says in annoyance.

"Just saying. You could've done like a roll or something."

"It's a three feet drop. It's not high enough to do a roll."

"You never know that." Hunter reasons.

Matt gave him a deadpan expression. "It's common knowledge, dude." Matt replies. He suddenly began sniffing the air, catching a whiff of a familiar fragrant. "You smell that?" he asked. "Gasoline."

Hunter sniffed the air and coughed, obviously not liking the smell.

"I love the smell of gasoline." Matt says. "Hell, I _LOVE_ gasoline. It's great fuel. For cars, vehicles… fires. Gasoline starts the best fires, and- MHM! I love fire."

Hunter stared at him with a shocked expression. "What the FUCK is wrong with you, kid?" Hunter asked.

"My father used to punish me severely." Matt replies.

Hunter continued to stare at his friend, until his eyes turned slightly to the side, before they grew as wide as dinner plates. "Behind you!" he shouted.

Matt immediately turned around to see a walker growling at his face. "Verdamnt! (Damn!)" Matt shouted in German as he immediately grabs his shock prod. The walker began to **jog** it's way toward the teen, all while **slashing** it's claws around. Matt pushed the button which extended his shock prod and held it up against the neck of the walker, blocking it and stopping any attempts of grabbing him.

Matt used all his strength to push the walker off of him, before he shoved it to the side, causing it to land on the ground. The walker immediately got up and growled at him, before Matt stuck the shock prod in the walker's eye socket. He suddenly pushed the power button on the shock prod, electrocuting the brain of the walker, both destroying it and killing the walker at the same time. He pulled out his shock prod as the walker fell on the hood of a car by him, which accidentally set the alarm off.

"Bloody hell!" Hunter shouted as he turned around.

"Jesus. Are you fucking kidding me!" Matt shouted as well.

At that moment, several walkers emerged from the various stores all around them, while some appeared from behind cars. The two lone survivors looked all around them to see that they were getting surrounded by multiple walkers.

"Down the street!" Matt shouted. "It's our only way!"

With that, the two survivors ran down the empty street, passing various walkers emerging from their hiding spots.

"What in Christ's name was that?!" Hunter shouted.

"I'm sorry, okay!" Matt shouted back. "I didn't know that walker was there! I had no idea that car was alarmed as well, alright?!"

"No! Not that! I mean why was that walker super aggressive?! It was running and shit! And did you see the way how it was slashing around?!"

"Yeah. I noticed that too." Matt agrees. "Maybe because that walker was a football athlete before it turned."

"Kid, we were at a military base once. The walkers over there were once military soldiers, and they didn't run and slash around!"

"So what's your point?!" Matt asked in annoyance.

"My point is- WHY ARE ALL THESE WALKERS RUNNING TOWARDS US?!"

"Huh?" Matt asked in confusion. He turned around to see the walkers jogging behind them. "What the hell?! Since when did they start running?!"

"I don't know but I want to get the hell out of here!" Hunter shouts.

The two suddenly ran into an open area, passing a sign that read "GREENSBORO CITY SQUARE". The two ran across the square, passing many walkers that were getting up from their sitting positions. They looked behind them to see even more walkers jogging towards them, some even running behind. Eventually, they ran across the square and exited from the other side and continued to run.

The two turned the corner of a street, preparing to run like hell towards the end of it. However, they stopped in their tracks once they saw that the entire street was flooded with walkers, whom were idling roaming around. The commotion that the two caused made the walkers turn to their directions, growling at them as they began to walk towards them.

"Oh. _Now_ they walk!" Matt exclaims in annoyance.

"Back the other way!" Hunter shouted as he and Matt turned around.

They ran down the opposite side of the street, barely passing the running walkers' reach. They continued to run down the street until they turned the corner, once again, stopping in their traps.

"Oh for fuck sakes!" Matt shouted in anger.

In front of them was a fallen radio tower that was leaned against a freeway bridge. They turned around to see the walkers jogging towards them, quickly catching up towards them.

"Run! Just run!" Hunter shouted as he and Matt ran towards the tower.

"What do we do when we get to the tower?!" Matt shouted.

"Climb it!"

"WHAT?!" Hunter grabbed onto the tower and quickly began to climb it, while Matt stayed behind on the ground. "I am not climbing that tower!"

"Do you want to become food?!" Hunter shouted.

Matt turned around to see the walkers quickly jogging towards them. "Verdammt noch mal! (Damn it all!)" Matt swore. He quickly grabbed onto the tower and immediately began to climb. "If I fall and die, I'm gonna haunt you as a ghost since you love them so much!"

"JUST BLOODY CLIMB!" Hunter shouted back.

Matt continued to climb until he felt something tug his leg. He looked down to see a walker grabbing onto his ankle, it's mouth chopping it's way towards it. Matt screamed as he kicked the walker in the face, though it didn't let go. He kicked it in the face once more, and yet again, it didn't let go. He kicked it for the third time and it still didn't let go.

He suddenly grabbed his shock prod and pushed the button, extending it, before he stabbed the walker in the eyes. He then turned on the power of his shock prod, which electrocuted the brain of the walker, killing it. With it's grip loosened, Matt kicked the walker away, letting go of his ankle, before he continued climbing up the tower.

Matt continued to climb the tower, while Hunter was a little ways ahead of him, almost nearing the top. As he stepped on a metal bar, it began to crack, indicating it was about to give any moment. Thinking quickly, Matt jumped up to another bar, just in time for the bar he was stepping on to completely fall off. Matt looked down to see the metal bar falling on a random walker, completely crushing it's skull, killing it.

He looked back up and continued to climb the radio tower, seeing Hunter jump to another bar above him. "Don't look down. Don't look down." Matt told himself as he lifted himself up on a bar. "Just keep climbing. Just keep climbing. Climbing. Climbing. Climbing." He stepped on a bar and lifted himself up, now standing on it as he supported himself by grabbing onto another metal bar. However, the metal bar he was standing on began to give way, making it just like before that it was about to fall.

Acting quickly yet again, Matt jumped up to another bar, just in time for the bar he was standing on to fall. It dangled for a few moments before it eventually rusted off the radio tower. The metal bar fell towards the street, landing on a car, crushing it completely. Upon impact, the car alarm began to blare, causing some of the walker to march their way towards the car.

The teen continued to climb the tower at a cautious rate, carefully placing one foot on the metal bars after another. "S' no problem." Matt says to himself in a quiet tone. "It's like climbing the jungle gym… Granted I never climbed the jungle gym."

Above him, Hunter stepped on a metal bar before placing his hand on another, accidentally putting too much pressure on the bar he just stepped on. The bar suddenly loosened and immediately fell, falling towards Matt below him. "Ah, bugger it!" Hunter shouted in anger.

Matt gasped as he saw the metal bar falling towards him. Without hesitation or thinking, he jumped over to the side, grabbing onto a metal bar, just in time for the bar that was falling to fall right passed him. "Ach du lieber Himmel! (Good heavens!)" Matt shouted.

He looked below him to see the metal bar crushing a few walkers below him. He looked back up to see Hunter at the very top of the tower, seeing him jump towards the bridge, finally off the falling deathtrap that was once a radio tower. The teen, whom was still hanging on a metal bar, felt something shake; he looked up to see the bar he was hanging onto was slowly decaying, loosening in the process. Knowing it was about to give any second, he swung over to another metal bar, just in time for that bar to give and fall.

Matt landed feet first on a bar, but lost his balance, causing him to fall backwards. He reached out his hand and quickly caught the bar he landed on, saving his life. "So ein Misthaufen! (What a pile of crap!)" Matt shouted. He looked down to see the various walkers, extending their arms to try and reach him, obviously to no avail. "Ich werde hier oben sterben. (I am going to die up here.)" He says as he continues to climb up.

He continued climbing the broken radio tower; at that moment, the whole tower shook, causing Matt to lose his grip once more. Because he lost his grip, he began falling backwards towards the ground once more and just like last time, at the last second, Matt grabbed onto a metal bar, stopping him from falling. He used all his strength to lift himself up onto the bar before reaching upwards, grabbing another bar. He looked up to see that the tower was falling a little bit, indicating that it was losing it's balance from leaning on the bridge.

Matt's eyes widened at the sight in front of him, as adrenaline began pumping through his veins. Using all his strength and speed, Matt began climbing the tower at a rapid rate. Instead of climbing carefully, he was now jumping from one bar to another. He continued to step on the metal bars and jump as high as he could, grabbing onto the bars above him, while the bars he previously stepped on were loosened, which then fell off the radio tower, crashing to the ground below.

He continued to climb as fast as he could before he began to near the top. There, he saw Hunter look down below from the bridge, extending his hand for Matt to continued to climb and jump, all while the tower began to slowly collapse; upon reaching the top, the tower began to completely collapse, falling off from the side of the bridge. Matt climbed for his life as the tower continued to fall; after reaching the last bar, Matt used all his strength to jump at the last minute, catching Hunter's hand as he dangled above the street, all while the tower crumbled to the ground, killing some walkers underneath. Matt panted as Hunter dangled him above the street, giving him a smile while chuckling at the same time.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, I got ya." Hunter says, smiling brightly at his friend.

"Just pull me up, Hunt." Matt replies.

With that, Hunter pulled Matt up to safety, setting him down on the ground on the bridge. The teen fell on his knees, going into a doggystyle position as he grabbed his chest, panting profusely. "What the hell was that back there?" he asked.

"Whaaaat?" Hunter whined. "It was the only idea I could think of at the time. If we didn't climb up the tower, we would've been killed."

"Not your dumbass idea, Hunter!" Matt shouted. "I meant why were those walkers all running and shit?!"

"Oh… I don't know." Hunter says. "Maybe they're evolving."

"Zombies evolving?" Matt asked as he gave his friend an annoyed expression. "It's official. You've lost your mind."

"Well how else can you explain that those walkers turned into runners?" Hunter asked.

"I don't know, but I do know one thing: This city is completely overrunned by those… those… **SUPER WALKERS**!" Matt shouted. "We need to get out of here as fast as possible!"

"Where would we go?" Hunter asked. "This highway leads to downtown, and that's back where we came from. We can't go the other way because the bridge is out. The only way to even pass through this entire area is to go through Greensboro on the ground, and we can't because of those walkers. We'll get killed. We need an entire army for a fighting chance."

Matt sighed in defeat. "Then we head back into the woods." he says. "I know I said we need to get out of there but with these super walkers infesting this entire city, there's nothing we can do."

Hunter sighed in defeat as well. "Let's head back then." he says. The two then began walking down the abandoned highway, going back the way they came from. "I was really looking forward to getting out of the woods."

"You and me both, dude… You and me both." Matt says as they walked along the abandoned highway.

* * *

A walker roamed in the middle of the forest, emerging from behind a tree as it growled instinctively. That is, until it turned it's head to the side and noticed something, causing it to approach whatever it is it saw, growling in the process. The growls became more aggressive as it extended it's hands, trying to reach whatever what it was that was in front of it.

At that moment, a shock prod stabbed its way into the forehead of the walker, before electricity shot out of it's head, frying it's brain, successfully killing it. The walker dropped dead as the person holding the shock prod was none other than Matt. He groaned in annoyance as he lifted his head in the air, obviously tired of some sort.

"You 'bout done over there?" Matt asked in annoyance.

"Give me a bloody second, will ya?" Hunter responded in equal annoyance from behind a tree.

"Well, hurry up. I'm a sitting duck out here." Matt says.

The sound of a zipper being zipped up could be heard as the sound of a belt buckling could be heard afterwards. Hunter suddenly emerged from behind a tree, wiping whatever was on his crotch area on his jeans.

"Took you long enough." Matt says as Hunter walks passed him.

"Shut up, twat." Hunter mumbles as Matt chuckles in response. "Where are we going anyways?"

"Wherever the world takes us." Matt says.

"You have no idea, do you?"

"Not a single clue." Matt replies without skipping a beat.

"Oi." Hunter grumbles as he grabs his face. "This is great… This is great. Here we are in the most dangerous place in the world and we have no idea where the hell we're going."

"We are heading to a safe haven." Matt announces.

"That's what you said when we tried to cross Greensboro, now look at us! We're stuck in the middle of the forest, back where we came from!"

"Do you want the dead to rise among us, cunt?!" Matt shouted, scaring Hunter a little bit. Immediately, the teen regretted it. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I shouldn't have pressured you." Hunter replies.

Matt sighed heavily. "I really don't want to camp out in the woods again." Matt says.

"Maybe we can head back to Georgia?" Hunter suggested. "That mansion in Thomasville was a pretty good place to set up a safehouse. Big, fortified, lots of food."

"You saw how Thomasville went down." Matt replied. "The whole damn city was overrunned. Plus we'd have to cross those mountains again. Trust me, Hunter, there ain't nothing back there for us."

"Well we don't have a destination set in mind, do we?" he asked.

"Nope."

"Maybe we can head to New York?"

Matt suddenly stopped walking as he turned to his friend. "Hunter, that city is gigantic. We'll get eaten alive in no time."

"So what's our plan?"

"Probably find a smaller city and set up camp there. I don't know." Matt replies.

Hunter only hummed in response as the two continued walking down the forest path, passing many walkers in the distance. As the two continued to walk in the forest, they came across a derailed trained, crashed in the middle of their path.

"Great. Just what we need. Another blockade." Hunter says.

"And look." Matt sarcastically says. "This one is a ground vehicle. If we're lucky, we'll get trapped by a boat next time." Matt began profusely smiling as he shook his head in a sarcastic manner, before growing a deadpan expression. "Come on, let's open this bitch up." he says as he walked over to the train, leaving Hunter behind.

"Never say that sentence again." Hunter commented as he walked over to his friend. The two approached the train car door and simply stared at it, almost as if they were hesitating to open it. "Well…" Hunter says in the quietness. "Open it."

Matt immediately snapped to his friend, giving him a betrayed expression. "E-Excuse me?" he stammered.

"Open it!" Hunter repeated.

"M-Me! No! You! You open it!"

"I told you first to open it!"

"I'm not opening it! What if there's some giant ass zombie in there with arms the size of tree trunks?! I am not opening that door!"

"Hey, kid. You hear that?... I think there's a puppy in there. You should let it out."

"Hey, Hunter, I bet there are some ghosts in there that want to be freed. You better open the door or else the spirits will haunt you."

"I am not opening that train car door!"

"Well neither am I!"

"Yes you- You _are_ going to open that door."

"I am NOT going to open that door, Hunter!"

"Guywhoopensthetraindoorsayswhat." Hunter rapidly said.

"What?" Matt's eyes immediately grew, suddenly realizing what his friend said. "God damnit!" he shouted as he threw his shock prod on the ground in anger. He let out an exasperated sigh as he cupped his face, before turning to his friend. "Alright. Rock. Paper. Scissors."

Hunter gave Matt a dumbfounded expression. "What? No. That's fucking stupid." he argued.

"What's stupid is opening this train car door." Matt retorted.

"You wanna go around?!" Hunter exclaimed as he extended his hand behind him.

Matt looked a little over Hunter, seeing that the train continued on for a few more yards, with a bunch of walkers roaming around the derailed train. He let out a defeated sigh as he brought up his hands, still wanting to play the hand game.

"Jus- Come on, man. One round. Rock. Paper. Scissors." Matt begged.

Hunter looked down as he sighed in annoyance. "Alright, fine." he agreed. "Just one round and loser opens the door."

"Good. That's all I asked for."

The two brought out their hands and shaped one of them into fists, ready to play the hand game. "Ready?" Matt asked.

Hunter nodded.

"Rock. Paper. Sci-"

Hunter immediately slapped Matt in the crotch, causing the teen to yelp out in pain while falling on his knees, grabbing his ballsack. "D'omph! Aaaaaaaaggh!"

"Open the damn door!" Hunter shouted, pointing to the door.

"Alright! Fine! You didn't have to balltap me you fucking dick!" Matt shouted back. "Urgh!" he grunted as he got back up on his feet.

He limped over to the train car door and pressed his ear against it, while behind him, Hunter turned around, making sure no walkers would sneak up behind them.

"Do I really have to open this door?" Matt asked. "Please say no."

"Just open it, will ya?" Hunter responded, not facing Matt.

Matt groaned in annoyance as he grabbed the handle. "Hey," he whispered at the train car door, as if he was talking to something inside. "remember who let you out of here. When I open the door, go for the other guy, not me. You understand?"

"Stop dicking around with the door, kid." Hunter says. "Just open it."

"I'm gonna shove my hand so far up your ass that I'll start playing you like a muppet." Matt threatened.

Unbeknownst to Matt, Hunter grew a disgusted look. "Ew." he whispered.

Matt pulled the door handle, opening the train car door; he immediately let go of it and backed up, grabbing his shock prod that he threw on the ground as the two prepared for any walkers that were inside. They looked at the open train car door and saw nothing, just darkness inside. Figuring that there was nothing even inside, the two lowered their weapons and placed them in their respective holsters.

The duo approached the open train car door and climbed inside, immediately catching a whiff of something revolting.

"Ogh!" Hunter grunted in disgusted. "What is that smell?"

Matt looked down to see what appeared to be bloody organs on the train car floor. "Are those… intestines?" Matt asked.

The two looked at the bloody, shredded organs on the floor, wondering what happened in the train car. Unbeknownst to them, a pair of ominous, glowing yellow eyes opened up in the darkness beside them. At that moment, the yellow eyes began growling, capturing the attention of the two; they screamed as a walker emerged from the darkness, extending it's arms as it tried to grab it's victims.

"Woah!" Matt shouted.

He backed up a bit but unfortunately slipped on the bloody floor, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on the train, blinding his vision as he fell out of the entire train car. Hunter went to grab his knife but was suddenly grabbed from behind; screaming, he turned around to see a second walker that emerged from the darkness.

The former ghost hunter dropped his knife as he grabbed the wrists of the walker, struggling for his life as the walker began chomping towards his face.

Meanwhile, Matt groaned in pain as he grabbed the back of his head, slowly regaining his vision. He looked up to see the first walker fall on top of him. Acting quickly, Matt raised his foot in the air and stopped the walker from falling on top of him. He struggled for his life as the walker continued to chomp its mouth, trying to get a bite out of his flesh. Matt struggled as he continued to hold up the walker with his foot, trying his damndest to stay alive, all while the walker continued to chomp and growl at him.

He suddenly used all of his strength and lifted his other foot and pushed the walker off of him, sending it flying back into the train car. He immediately got up and grabbed his telescopic shock prod, pressing the button to extend it; he turned to his right to see Hunter struggling with the second walker. Not wasting any time, Matt swung his shock prod against the walker's face, sending it falling down while freeing Hunter.

The adult grabbed his knife and bent down, going for the kill, while the first walker proceeded to get up to attack Matt once more. Without thinking, Matt punched the walker in the knee, causing it to bend backwards while also sending the walker falling towards him. However, this time, he was prepared, as Matt stuck his shock prod onto the falling walker's forehead and pressed the button, electrocuting and frying the brain, successfully killing the walker.

Matt panted as he withdrew his shock prod, causing the corpse of the dead walker to plummet onto the ground. At that moment, Hunter got up and withdrew his knife from the second walker's skull, swinging it to get rid of the excess blood. The teen looked at his friend and glared at him, before he pointed at him with his shock prod.

"You're opening the door next time." he panted.

Hunter rolled his as he shook his head, earning an even bigger glare from Matt; the teen put his shock prod away as he climbed into the train car, cautiously stepping onto the bloody floor so he wouldn't slip and fall again. He grabbed the train door handle on the opposite side of the train and opened it, revealing the rest of the forest behind the derailed train; the teen turned to his friend and extended his hand over to the path.

"FGF. Fucker Goes First." Matt says.

"Tch." Hunter said as he shook his head, before jumping out of the train car.

Matt stayed behind for a brief moment as he turned to the walker that Hunter killed. At that moment, he noticed something off about the walker. First of all, it was shirtless. Second of all, it had the letters TW scarred on it's back, just like the walker they encountered at the 7/11 yesterday.

"TW?" Matt whispered. At that moment, several growls could be heard in front of him; looking up, he saw a horde setting in, approaching the derailed train and himself inside. "Oh shit." he said nonchalantly.

He stood up and closed the train car door, before jumping out on the opposite side to catch up to his friend.

* * *

After some time of walking in the middle of the forest, our two survivors finally came across a clearing that lead straight to a river. "Thank Christ we're out of that forest!" Matt exclaimed. "I hate forests!"

"Then why did you decide to go through one?" Hunter asked smugly.

"Because if there's one thing I hate more than anything, it's myself." Matt replies.

"Don't get all emo on me, kid." Hunter suddenly yawned, fatigue setting in. "It's getting dark. We should find some place to rest."

"That boathouse over there seems like a good place to spend the night." Matt pointed over to a direction.

Hunter turned around to see that there was indeed a boathouse by the river. "Alright." he exclaimed enthusiastically. "Must be our lucky day."

"As opposed to the regular bad luck we've had since we've been traveling together."

The two then began walking over to the boathouse, ready to set up camp and rest for the night. For once that day, Matt smiled out of genuine happiness, satisfied that there was a place to stay for the night instead of camping in the forest or a corpse filled house.

He suddenly looked up and just like that, his smile disappeared, as he suddenly stopped while growing a slightly scared expression.

"Hunter." he calls out, not taking his eyes away from above him.

"Hm?" Hunter asked, stopping while turning around to face his friend.

"Don't. Move." Matt says.

Hunter raises an eyebrow as he turns around to look at what Matt was looking at, before he grew his own terrified expression. Up on the balcony was a woman with blonde hair, holding a rifle with what appeared to be a knife taped to the front to make a makeshift bayonet; said woman was pointing her rifle right at the two, prompting them to raise their hands in the air.

"We're not armed… Well… We are, but we're not armed to harm you." Matt nervously said.

"Where are you from?" the woman asked.

Matt turned to Hunter before he pointed at him. "I don't know where this cunt's from but I'm from Georgia. Born in Germany for 8 years before I moved here." Matt explained.

"Prove it!" the woman shouted. "Speak some German."

"Das ist die dümmste frage die mir je gestellt wurde. (That's the dumbest question I've ever been asked.)" Matt said in German.

"Wait, what did you say?" asked the woman, confused.

"What's the point in asking if I could speak German if you couldn't even understand me in the first place?!" Matt asked in mere annoyance.

"I think he said something cheese and crackers." Hunter says suddenly.

Matt shot him a glare. "Fuck off, cunt!" he shouted in frustration.

"What's going on out there?" asked a voice from inside. At that moment, a middle-aged black man with a beard appeared on the balcony, standing next to the woman with the rifle. "Cheryl, who are these people?" the man asked.

"The young one was born in Germany but he's from Georgia." Cheryl replied. "I don't know about the other man though."

"I'm from the West Coast!" Hunter exclaimed. "Though I sound British, I really am American! I just grew up in a British family, that's all."

"Hold on! Hold on!" the man exclaimed, taking a good look at Hunter. "Is that… Hunter Spector?"

Hunter shot him a confused look, before turning to Matt For a brief moment. "Uh… Y-Yeah." he answered nervously. "Do I know you?"

"No." the man replied. "But _I_ know _YOU_! You used to be the host of that TV show! What was it? ARGGH?"

Hunter grew a huge smile. "You watched my show?!" Hunter asked enthusiastically.

"Well, not really, but my kids used to be huge fans of you." the man replied. "Used to always make me watch your show with them. It was their favorite show."

"Ha ha!" Hunter laughed. He suddenly turned to Matt. "Hey, kid! I got a fan up there!"

"Fan-tucking-fastic." Matt sarcastically replied. "Now tell your '_fan'_ up there that we're not here to cause trouble."

Hunter turned back to the man. "Uh, can you tell that girl to lower her weapon?" Hunter politely asked. "We're not here to harm you guys."

"Sorry, Hunter." the man replied. "You may be a celebrity, but you're still a stranger. Forgive me for saying this, but we don't really trust strangers nowadays."

Hunter turned back to his friend once more, growing an even bigger smile. "He called me a celebrity!" Hunter enthusiastically shouted, unable to stand still from excitement.

Matt shot the man a glare. "Why are you fueling the fuckboy's ego?" Matt asked.

"What exactly are you guys doing here?" Cheryl asked.

"We just came out of a goddamn forest, lady!" Matt shouted. "We just need a place to spend the night!"

Cheryl squinted at Matt before turning to the man. "I don't know about them, Bernard." Cheryl whispered. "They could be one of them."

"There's only one way to find out." the man now known as Bernard replied. "We'll let you two inside." he said. Matt and Hunter blew sighs of relief. "But you'll have to listen to us once you're inside, got it?"

"Do we have much of a choice?" Matt asked.

"Not really." Bernard says.

Matt groaned in annoyance. "Alright, fine! We're coming in." he says.

The two lowered their hands as they approached the door, all while Cheryl continued to point her gun at them. As they approached the door, a man suddenly opened it, holding a rifle of his own, as he let the two survivors inside. Matt and Hunter entered the boathouse and saw three more survivors. Two males, with one of them appeared to be a teenager, and another female that also looked like to be a teenager.. At that moment, Cheryl and Bernard came walking down the stairs to greet the new guests.

"Take off your shirts." Bernard ordered without missing a beat all of a sudden.

"Aw, crap!" Matt shouted. "They're kinky survivors!"

"What? No!" Bernard shouted. "We're not kinky! We just need you to take off your shirts so we could see your chests and backs."

"Oh, okay." Matt says. "I didn't want to deal with any sex driven survivors again."

Hunter turned to Matt with an extremely confused expression. "What do you mean 'again'?" Hunter asked, slightly scared of receiving an answer.

"It's pretty self explanatory, Hunter." Matt replied.

With that said, the two of them took off their jackets and shirts, revealing their bare skin. Hunter had some hair on his chest but was overall in good shape. Matt had a six pack going but at the same time, numerous scars could be seen on his chest. Some old bullet wounds and what appeared to be a knife wound by his stomach and a bite mark on his shoulder.

Bernard shook his head. "Turn around." he said.

The two survivors turned around, revealing their backs; Matt however revealed what appeared to be a slash wound on his lower back that healed up into a scar.

"Are you sure you're not with the Timberwolves." Bernard asked.

Matt turned his head around. "Who the hell are the Timberwolves?" he asked.

Bernard slapped his thigh in response. "That answers my question." he says.

"Can we put our shirts back on now?" Hunter asked.

"Yes. Go ahead." Cheryl replied.

The teenaged female of the group began whispering something into the other teenaged male's ear.

"I don't know. I'm not into guys." the guy whispered back.

Matt and Hunter, with their shirts back on, turned to face the boathouse survivors. "Allow me to introduce ourselves." Bernard said. "I'm Bernard Davidson. That there is Cheryl Harrison."

"Hey." Cheryl greeted.

"The man beside you is named Joe Steele." Bernard continued. "That other man over there is named Joey Krikowski. A little heads up, he's deaf, so he can't hear you. Joe's his translator. Finally, those two over there are Jaren and Melony Simpson. Siblings separated by a 2 year age gap. Jaren's the oldest."

"You seem to know an awful lot about these guys, Bernard." Matt says. "What gives?"

"We've been together since the first few days of the outbreak." Bernard replied. "We were with a bigger group, the Timberwolves, before we left and came to this boathouse. That's how we met Joe and Joey."

"You mentioned the Timberwolves twice now." Hunter spoke up. "Who are they?"

"First things first. We introduced ourselves but you need to introduce yourselves. Except you Hunter, we already know you."

"More fans, huh?" Hunter grew a shit eating grin.

"Shut up." Matt mumbled.

"So youngin', who are you?" asked Bernard.

"The name's Matilda Dillon." Matt replied. "But, everyone calls me Matt. And by everyone, I mean this cunt right here."

"Twat." Hunter mumbled.

"Alright, first off, are you two enemies or something?" Cheryl asked. "Because that's the second time you've called him the c-word this night."

"Him?" Matt pointed to Hunter. "This dude's my best friend. We've been through hell and back together for a little over a year now."

"Then why do you keep calling him the c-word?"

"Why do _you_ keep saying it as 'the c-word'?" Matt retorted. "Just say the damn word instead of acting like a little kid about it. Anyway, don't think too much of the name calling. It's just how we talk."

"No, that's how _you_ talk, kid." Hunter corrected. "I honestly don't mind. I've gotten used to it by now."

"Okay, secondly… Matilda?... But you're a… You're a… I mean- I- I think you're a-"

"Yes, I'm a guy." Matt interjected.

"Then why is your name Matilda then?" Jaren asked from the back.

"Because mommy and daddy didn't really love me that much." Matt sarcastically replied. "I had a bad childhood that I really don't want to get into right now."

"Understandable." Bernard says.

"Alright, now spill." Matt says in a blunt tone. "Who are the Timberwolves?"

Bernard turned to Cheryl for a brief moment before he turned to the two. "You really don't know who they are?" he asked.

"If we did, would we be asking?" Matt reasoned.

Bernard sighed heavily as he looked down, before looking Matt in the eyes again. "The Timberwolves are a group of dangerous survivors." Bernard started. "They're notorious of using deadly weapons and tactics to get what they want. They care for no one but themselves. They steal, hurt, and kill whoever gets in their way and they don't take too kindly to traitors and abandoners. They mark themselves by carving the letters TW onto their chests or backs."

Matt's eyes suddenly widened as he turned to his companion, hitting his arm. "Hunter." he says. His friend turned to him. "That walker in the convenience store."

Hunter's eyes also widened as the sudden memory flashed in his mind. "That's right. It had the letters TW on it's chest." Hunter says.

"And that walker on the train." Matt reminded. "It had the same letters on it's back."

"Ah. Those must've been either the traitors or people who abandoned them." Cheryl says. "Now you know what the Timberwolves will do to you if you don't obey by their rules."

"I've been in worse groups." Matt mumbled.

"You're scaring me each day, kid." Hunter replied.

"So these Timberwolves… what's up with them?"

"Just a bunch of psychotic freaks wandering the woods and forests who care nothing or no one but themselves." Bernard answered. "You best be on the other side of the fence when you encounter them."

"Anyway, enough about them." Cheryl says. "Where you two heading?"

"Wherever." Matt answered. "We've been on the road and on our own for, like I said, a little over a year by now. We have no destination in mind. We've been camping out in the woods, abandoned houses, wherever we are when we stop. We've been raiding abandoned stores for food and medicine. That's how we've been living."

Joey then began making hand signals with his hands, because of his deafness. "He says that's a pretty dumb way of surviving." Joe translated.

"Still surviving nonetheless." Matt counters. "Plus we're still alive, aren't we?"

Joe turned to Joey and began making hand signals to communicate with him.

(I think it's best we don't anger that one.) Joe gestured. (He seems to be easily irritable and tends to get angry when pushed around too much.)

(Could be paranoia.) Joey gestured. (You know how people are nowadays.)

"Hey, kid, remember what I was telling you yesterday?" Hunter suddenly asked Matt.

"You told me a lot of things yesterday, Hunter." Matt replied. "How am I supposed to know what you're talking about?"

"About the group thing." Hunter reminded.

Matt rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Oh- You're still on that?" he asked.

"On what?" Cheryl asked.

Matt sighed heavily as he turned to the boathouse survivors. "Hunter thinks that he and I should be in a group so we could be more safe." Matt says. "_I_ think that we're fine on our own just traveling without a group with no destination set in mind. Cuz I've been in my fair share of groups and they don't last that long. It's the same thing over and over and over and over again. You join one group, you feel safe for about a month or so, then it dies. I've seen it happen before."

"That's just because you were in bad groups." Hunter counters. "These guys look well fed and alright."

"There is absolutely no way we are joining this group!" Matt exclaims sternly.

"We have running water." Joe says.

"So when can we join?" Matt suddenly asks, without missing a beat.

Hunter shot him an extremely confused expression.

* * *

The boathouse survivors, sans Matt, sat at the dining room table, all eating bowls of pork and beans. Right at that moment, Matt came walking into the room, with freshly wet hair laying on top his shoulders. He took a sat next to Hunter and immediately began eating his pork and beans.

"So how long have you two been on the road together?" Bernard suddenly asked.

Matt swallowed his food before answering. "Like I said, a little over a year by now." Matt says.

"Mind if we ask how you two met?" Joe asked. "If that's alright with you."

"Nah, it's totally alright." Hunter politely responded. "We were both on our own before we met each other. I think it was maybe a few months in the outbreak before we actually met. I was with a bigger group and traveled all over the country from safehouse to safehouse before eventually the group I was with just turned into me. Then I met him."

"Yeah." Matt confirmed. "For me, I was with a bunch of different groups and communities before I eventually met Hunter." Matt suddenly grew a saddened expression. "The groups I was with weren't good."

"Well, yeah, I'd expect." Cheryl says. "Most groups at the start of the apocalypse don't know what's going on and make a ton of mistakes. The Timberwolves are no exception. They made some pretty bad mistakes back then but after getting used to the zombies and everything, they kind of adapted to how life is now." She suddenly grew a distasteful look. "That still doesn't excuse their actions and their barbaric way of life."

"No, I said they weren't good." Matt repeated. "As in… they were bad… really bad."

The rest of the survivors, including Hunter, gave Matt a confused expression. "What do you mean?" Jaren asked.

"I mean…" Matt sighed heavily as he looked down before looking back up at the survivors, giving them the most serious look he has ever gave off in his life. "They did… some… pretty fucked up things… and I'm no exception. When I was with them, I had to do some pretty awful things just to survive. Not by the walkers but from them. If I didn't obliged by their rules, they would've killed me. I had no choice but to follow their rules."

"What… did they do, son?" Bernard asked.

"If it's alright with you, I'd rather not say." Matt replies. "I still haven't told Hunter about my story yet and we've been traveling together for a long time."

"I only know where he was when it all started." Hunter added. "He hasn't told me the rest yet."

"What about you guys?" Matt asked. "Where were you when it all started?"

"Right here in the heart of North Carolina." Bernard says. "I knew Cheryl before it started. She used to be my kid's babysitter. We met Jaren and Melony when we joined the Timberwolves."

"Back then, they weren't called the Timberwolves though." Jaren says.

"They weren't?" Hunter asked. "What were they called?"

"A lot of different names." Jaren replied. "Bernard and Cheryl joined the community maybe about three months in, whereas me and Melony were there on Day 1 when it the group was formed, which was just a small group of five people back then. Back then, the group was called the Martyrdoms, who was lead by this anti religions guy named Sean. After he died, this other guy, named Brad took over and made a few changes to the community. He changed locations to a more isolated area and changed the name to the Islanders. Then Brad died and this other guy took over."

"What happened then?" Matt asked.

"Let's just say the new leader wasn't really a good one." Bernard replies. "Possibly the worst leader in all of history."

"So why'd you guys leave?" Hunter asked.

"Like we said before, the Timberwolves now are a horrible group of violent psychopaths and anyone who didn't agree with their philosophies or rules were either executed or fed to a ditch full of walkers." Cheryl says.

"Woah. Woah. Woah. Wait. A ditch full of walkers?" Matt asked. "How fucked up is this community?"

"Really fucked up." Cheryl replies. "The leader is the most malicious, terrifying, horrific… demon leader of the Timberwolves. No one fucks with him. He's the most terrifying leader we ever met. But you want to know what's even more terrifying than his psychopathic, sadistic way of life… is that he's actually a good leader. He makes the best decisions and does what needs to be done in the group."

"He's an effective leader and has hundreds of loyal followers." Jaren went on and added. "That fact that he's a scary dude and he's all sadistic and shit, along with him being a helluva good leader, probably makes him the most hardcore, terrifying survivor out there in the entire country. If not, the whole world."

Matt and Hunter were in shock from this, unable to think of anything to say and just sat there in their seats with their mouths slightly gaped open.

"Yeah, that was pretty much our reactions when we first heard about them." Joe said, referring to him and Joey.

"Fuckin' A." Matt says. "He's that menacing."

Bernard could only nod. "If not more." he whispered. Matt and Hunter looked at each other in the uncomfortable silence. "Well, it's getting late." Bernard says. "Unfortunately, we don't have enough rooms for you two, so you'll have to take the couch."

"Trust us." Hunter says. "A couch will actually be a bed for us since we've mostly been sleeping in tents. Except last night when we slept in bunk beds."

"I've slept on couches before." Matt says.

Hunter merely shot him a confused look; Bernard suddenly stood up and grabbed his empty bowl. "We should probably get to bed soon." he says. "Joe, you think you and Joey can shut off the generator outside?"

"We can do that, Bernard." Hunter pipes up.

"Oh, you don't have to." Bernard says. "You two just arrived. It's unfair for you to immediately dive into some sort of work."

"It's unfair that we DON'T get work." Hunter retorts. "Besides, we're just shutting off a generator. It's not like we're running to get gas to fill up a boat or something."

"Well if you insist." Bernard replies.

Joey began making hand gestures to his translator.

(What are they saying?)

Joey began to move his hands to reply back. (The newcomers are going to be turning the generator off tonight instead of us.)

(Oh.)

"Just head out the back and the generator is next to the shed." Bernard replied, pointing to the back door. "Just push the button to power it off and y'all can head back inside."

Matt made a nose fart sound. "Y'all." he quoted while stifling a laugh.

Hunter pushed aside his friend as he stepped forward. "We can do that." he says. "Are you sure you don't us staying here?"

"We don't mind at all." Bernard replies.

"The more people we have, the more safe we are." Cheryl replies. "And since you two aren't with the Timberwolves, we have no reason to distrust you."

"I can tell instantly about people." Bernard added. "I can tell you two are friendly people."

"Gee thanks." Matt said kindly.

"Except for you." Bernard quickly added. "You seem to get angry easily and tend to insult people when you are angry."

Matt gave him an irritated look. "Gee thanks." he said once again, except this time in a sarcastic tone.

"We'll shut of the generator." Hunter says. "You guys just head to bed."

"Be careful out there you two." Melony suddenly spoke up. "Walkers tend to sneak up on people."

"Don't worry about us." Matt replies. "We can handle ourselves. Oh, I'm sorry. _I_ can handle myself. This guy is a lost cause." Matt referred to Hunter as he gave a cheeky smile.

Hunter merely turned to his comrade and gave him a confused expression. "I saved you from an alley from a bunch of walkers while you were unconscious when a TV fell on you the other day-"

"Shut up, cunt." Matt interrupted.

"Okay." Hunter replied in a passive tone.

"Well, either way, be careful." Joe said. "Even though Joey's deaf, one still managed to sneak up on him the other night. I'm glad I was there with him, otherwise he wouldn't be here by now."

Joey began making hand gestures in response. (Thank you once again.)

"Well, we better turn off the generator." Hunter says.

"Doesn't the generator need gas though?" Matt asked.

"Now, I know what you're gonna say, youngin." Bernard replies. "And yes, it does. We've been using the gas from abandoned cars to fuel the generator. Plus there's a bunch of gas cans out in the shack. This is a boathouse ya know. A boat house needs a boat, and a boat needs gas, so it makes sense that there would be gas cans in there."

"You seem to know your shit." Matt replies. "We'll be sure to handle our own while we're here. We can handle tough work, ya know."

"That's good to know." Bernard says. "Well, g'night everybody. I'm off to hit the sack."

Bernard began to walk towards the stairs, followed by the rest of the boathouse survivors. "Goodnight you two." Cheryl says.

Bernard was the first to walk up the stairs, followed by Joe, then Cheryl, then Joey, then Jaren, and then finally, Melony. The teen girl suddenly stopped in her tracks as she turned to look at Matt and gave him an enchanting smile.

"Goodnight, Matt." she said in a sweet, soft voice.

Matt merely waved at her as she giggled, before she ran up the stairs to catch up to the rest of the survivors. He turned to his friend, whom merely gave him a playful, all knowing grin, confusing the teen.

"What?" Matt asked, genuinely baffled as to why his friend was smiling at him like that.

Unbeknownst to them, however, the two of them were being watched by an unknown figure through a pair of binoculars. The figure lowered their binoculars as they squinted at the two, as they continued to spy at the two survivors through the window. At that moment, a walker approached the figure from behind, as it growled towards him; suddenly, the walker was decapitated by an unknown force wielding a machete.

* * *

Joey and Joe sat at the edge of the pier in lawn chairs as they held onto fishing rods. While Joey had a smile on his face, Joe had a completely bored expression on his own. Out at the back of the boathouse was Melony, whom was drawing whatever she was drawing in the notebook she had in her hands, while Bernard was chopping wood at the chopping block. At that moment, Matt and Hunter came walking out from the back door of the boathouse.

"Hey, Bernard." Hunter greeted.

Bernard, after finishing chopping a log, turned to the new two survivors. "Ah, morning, Hunter." Bernard greeted back. "Sleep well?"

"Best I've slept in years." Hunter replied. "We were wondering if there was anything we could do to help out around here."

"Well, that's awfully kind of you." Bernard replied. "You can help me chop some firewood so we could use for tonight."

"What about me?" Matt asked.

"Well, youngin, what do you want to do?" Bernard asked.

"Well…" Matt hesitated for a moment. "I could… hunt some deer for dinner…"

"Deer, huh?" Bernard replied. "You know how to hunt?"

"Been hunting ever since I was 10." Matt replied.

"Well, alright." Bernard replied. "Just be careful out in those woods, won't ya? Don't want any walkers creeping up on ya."

"Yeah. Yeah." Matt replied as he turned around.

"Hey, take Cheryl with ya!" Bernard shouted. "She always wanted to hunt."

Matt simply gave a thumbs up in response as he entered the house; Bernard turned to Hunter and smiled before shrugging. "I like that kid." he said.

Hunter simply smiled and nodded in response.

Inside the house, Cheryl was reading a book when Matt entered the living room. "Come on, Cheryl." he said. "We're going hunting."

Cheryl's eyes immediately brightened at the sentence. "Sweet!" she exclaimed in excitement as she tossed the book onto the couch before grabbing her gun.

Outside, Hunter was helping Bernard chopping some wood, using an axe to cut small logs in half.

"So you and the kid have been by yourselves for all this time?" Bernard replied.

"That's right." Hunter replied. "The kid saved my life. I would've been walker chow if he hadn't showed up at the right time."

"That's good to hear." Bernard said as he chopped a log.

"Hey, Bernard." Hunter said. "I've been meaning to ask, but… you mentioned you having kids…" Bernard suddenly stopped chopping wood as he grew a saddened look. "Did they…?" Hunter dared not to finish his question.

"Yeah." Bernard said above a whisper. "At the start."

Hunter sighed through his nostrils in sympathy. "I'm so sorry." he quietly said.

"It's fine." Bernard replied. "They're with their mother now. At least they don't have to grow up in a world like this. Even though I do miss them… they're still alive in my heart."

"Amen to that." Hunter said

Bernard suddenly smiled at Hunter. "So what about you?" he asked. "Had any Mrs. Spector in your life?"

Hunter merely chuckled in response. "No." he said. "I never had time for a relationship since I traveled the country for my show and all. Would've gotten in the way of our relationship, you know?"

"Yeah, I hear that." Bernard replied as he chopped a log. "Hey, can I ask you something? It's about that kid, Matt."

"What about him?" Hunter asked.

"Is he… alright?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he mentioned something about how his mom and dad weren't nice to him, and between you and me, he kind of gives me some 'crazy' vibes."

Hunter scrunched up his mouth as he sighed through his nose. "The kid's been a lot, that's for sure." he said. "Even before the outbreak. But… I can't tell you what he went through _during_ the outbreak, since he hasn't told me either. But I do agree with you… He is kind of… well… not mentally healthy."

"Is he insane?" Bernard asked.

"No." Hunter replied. "He just has PTSD. That's all. He sometimes has PTSD attacks and he just freezes up in the spot and stares off into space, like he saw a demon of some sort. Having this horrible traumatized expression on his face. No doubt whatever he went through during the outbreak sure messed up that head of his."

Bernard only gave a sympathetic expression as he looked down at the ground. "I feel bad for the kid now." he whispered.

"You and me both." Hunter whispered back.

"Uuuh, Bernard." a voice suddenly piped up. The two of them looked up to see Jaren leaning out of the second story window. "There's someone at the door." he said in a scared tone.

Bernard and Hunter looked at each other as they dropped their axes and ran to the backdoor. They entered the house and approached the front door, where Bernard opened it. He gasped as he saw a bunch of survivors on the front porch, all wearing leather jackets. The man in front of him wore a black trench coat while he gave Bernard a sinister grin.

"Hello, Bernard." the man said in a devilish voice.

* * *

A lone deer feasted on a spot of grass in the middle of the forest in the middle of the day, minding it's own business. However, unbeknownst to it, two figures were hidden in the shadows as they spied on the lone deer. The two figures were soon revealed to be Cheryl and Matt, with Cheryl holding her rifle while Matt held out a hand in front of her, as if he was stopping her.

"The key to hunting is to maintain perfect silence and to make sure you are always hidden from your prey." Matt whispered.

"Got it." Cheryl whispered back.

"If your prey sees you, there's a good chance it'll run away." Matt continued to whisper. "Now, deers have a heightened sense of smell and hearing, so you have to be very, _VERY_ careful of where you step. Don't go right up to it, it'll get scared. You have to stay hidden at all times. When the window of opportunity opens up, take the shot into the head. Or, if you want to be a true professional, aim for the heart."

"Wouldn't the noise alert the walkers, though?" Cheryl asked.

"Yes," Matt answered. "that's why we have to kill it fast. Not only will the shot alert the dead dumbasses, but the walkers will also alert the deer and cause it to get scared and run away. So you don't want to spend too much time idling around while your prey is just right there before it eventually gets scared and run off."

"You seem to know an awful lot about hunting." Cheryl said. "Did you used to hunt before all this?"

"Occasionally." Matt replied. "I used to head into the forest and hunt deer as a hobby."

"As a hobby?" Cheryl asked.

"Don't let your mind get side tracked." Matt slightly scolded her. "We're not here to talk about my life. We're here to hunt deer. Now, aim your rifle at the head of the deer." Cheryl did as she was told and aimed down her rifle. "Steady breathing. Align it with the head."

Cheryl looked down the iron sights of her rifle, which was pointing directly at the head of the deer, which was munching on the patch of grass below it. "Shoot." Matt whispered.

**BANG!**

With a pull of the trigger, Cheryl fired her rifle and shot the deer dead in the head. The deer collapsed onto the ground as Matt stood up. "Not bad for a beginner." he says in a normal volume. "Still need to work on your breathing and aiming but, you managed to get the job done."

With that said, Matt approached the corpse of the deer and pulled out his hunting knife. He plunged his dagger into the corpse of the deer and began harvesting it's meat.

"How many weapons do you have?" Cheryl asked as she approached Matt.

The teen, still crouched, turned around and looked at her. "I have this hunting knife that I've had since the start of the apocalypse." he answered. "I have a Beretta M9 hidden away on me, and I can't forget my favorite weapon of all." He suddenly grabbed his shock prod and pushed a button, extending it in front of Cheryl, barely touching the tip of her nose. "My telescopic shock prod. Had it since before the outbreak. I used this whenever I was attacked by some sort of predator."

"You used to get attacked by predators?" Cheryl asked.

"Oh yeah." Matt confirmed nonchalantly. "Cougars. Bears. My dad."

"Your dad?" Cheryl asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Fuckin' cunt." Matt muttered the last part. "Come on. Let's get this meat before…"

Matt suddenly stopped mid sentence as his eyes widened suddenly. At that moment, everything froze around him as his hearing went, like time suddenly stopped. He took in a sharp breath as his pupils suddenly shrunk, sensing something off in the area.

"Get down!" Matt shouted.

He suddenly leapt towards Cheryl and pinned her to the ground as he laid on top of her. Right at that moment, an arrow suddenly flew passed Matt's hair, causing it to fly in the wind. The area pierced a branch as it got latched onto a nearby tree. Cheryl's eyes widened at Matt's sudden, bizarre gesture, but also at the fact that he sensed danger before it even presented itself.

"Missed! I never miss!" shouted a nazily voice.

Both Cheryl and Matt turned to the side to see five figures walking out of the forest; they all wore leather jackets in some form. Cheryl's eyes widened in fear as she stared at the figures walking out of the forest and towards them.

"No." she whispered in fear. "How did they-?"

"Well. Well. Well. Who do we have here?" the tall figure wearing a black trench coat with am messy dark brown mohawk asked as he approached the two. "Cheryl Harrison. I _thought_ that was you! It's been a long time, has it, Cheryl?"

"Jericho." Cheryl spat out his name like venom.

"Been what? 3 months now?" Jericho rhetorically asked as he smiled maliciously at Cheryl.

"Cheryl…" Matt spoke up as he looked at the man in front of him. "What's going on?"

"What's going on is that _WE_ FOUND OUR FAMILY!" Jericho shouted. The other four members cheered as he raised their custom made weapons in the air, except one female member whom seemed uncomfortable in the situation. "You know the boss was having a shitty day, but seeing your faces will lighten up his mood."

"How did you find us?!" Cheryl asked.

Jericho simply snapped his fingers; at that moment, a sixth figure hidden in the forest came walking out holding a man with rugged and ripped clothes. He shoved the man to the ground, revealing that his hands were tied up behind his back. Matt took one look at their prisoner and immediately recognized who he was.

"You're…" Was all he said.

"This kind soul told us where he hid our stash when he raided from our community before he left." Jericho explained as he maliciously grinned at the two survivors down below them. "Mentioned something about coming across a kid with long hair and a star tattoo on his wrist. And what do you know?" Jericho bent down and grabbed Matt's wrist, revealing his star tattoo. "_YOU_ have long hair AND a star tattoo! He mentioned you having several bandages on your fingers and hand! It seems to me that we found our guy who stole our stuff."

"Your stuff?!" Matt shouted in disbelief. "He said it was his!"

"Well then _he_ lied." Jericho replied. "The truth is, he stole a bunch of food and medicine before he and his sister left the community. We ended up killing his sister but he got away. A few days later, we found him wandering the forest. So we grabbed him and we were about to feed him to the walkers right then and there before he told us he came across two survivors and told them where he hid our food and that they possibly still have it."

"What's the point?!" Matt exclaimed. "Even if we had your food, we probably already would've ate it by now."

"You think we care about food?" Jericho asked. "We have plenty of it at the base. What matters is that justice needs to be served. No one defies our rules, our guidelines, our community. Do you understand?"

"I don't even know who the hell you guys are!" Matt shouted. "Besides, we don't have your food! When we went into that supermarket, the food was already gone! I reckon that kid that held us hostage for a brief moment ate it all."

Jericho squinted his eyes at Matt, skeptical of his explanation. "Is the kid dead?" he asked.

Matt hesitated at first, the awful memory of seeing the kid get eaten in front of him flashed in his mind for a brief second. "Yeah." he confirmed in a low whisper. "He's dead."

Jericho continued to stare down at Matt before turning around to face one of his allies. He nodded his head at his ally behind the tied up man; at that moment, the survivor wearing the leather jacket, whom was wielding some sort of kayak paddle with chainsaw blades duct taped to the ends, swung his weapon down onto the tied up man. With one swing of his custom made weapon, the tied up man's head was sliced off, killing him instantly.

Cheryl looked away as Matt widened his eyes in terror, watching as the head fell off as the body limply collapsed to the ground. "Well now." Jericho said. "Seeing that justice has already been served by the death of that kid, we had no need for him. You guys on the other hand are coming with us." He suddenly bent down low enough to face Cheryl dead in the eyes, mere centimeters away from her face, "Along with your friends."

"Our friends?" Cheryl asked.

Jericho turned around as he looked at Cheryl. "Are these guys not your friends?" he asked.

At that moment, a group of other leather jacket wearing survivors came walking out of the forest, holding the rest of the boathouse survivors, as well as Hunter, hostage. Matt's eyes widened as he saw his friends get shoved to the ground in front of him, while Hunter looked at Matt with scared eyes.

"Tie these two up." Jericho ordered his men. "We're heading back to base."

He began to leave as both Matt and Cheryl were grabbed by their arms. "Wait! Who are you guys?!" Matt shouted.

Jericho suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned his head back to Matt, giving him a sinister grin, before he gave his answer.

"We're the Timberwolves."

* * *

"_She had never dreamed there could be so much pain in a life when there was nothing physically wrong. She hurt all the time."_

* * *

**(Ooh wee. This was fun to write... Okay bye.)**


	2. Deterioration

**(Guys help, Mr. PotassiumK is forcing me to write this story. He's holding me hostage in his basement and he's threatening that if I don't write this story, then he'll reveal to the public about my adult diaper fetish- AW! DAMNIT!)**

* * *

Matt stared at the ceiling of the truck that he and his friends were in, after being captured by the Timberwolves and were currently being transported to their base. He turned to his side to see that Hunter was trying to get the restraints off of his wrists while Melony was crying on Jaren's shoulder, whom tried his best to comfort her. He turned his head to the opposite side to see Bernard sitting calmly on the floor of the truck they were in while Cheryl was just as busy trying to get the restraints off her wrists; Joe and Joey seemed to have fallen asleep on each other's shoulders.

Matt looked ahead of him, still retaining his expressionless face while his eyes were simply staring at the ceiling. His whole face pretty much read "dead inside", as if he had lost all hope in that moment. Even though he was in the back of a truck with his friends, he didn't hear their voices. Instead, he heard the engine running of the truck they were in as well as the many objects the truck ran over, causing it the shake occasionally. The sounds got louder and louder, until Matt closed his eyes.

He suddenly shot them wide open as he suddenly began to hear a barrage of gunshots in the distance. Matt observed his surroundings and immediately noticed that he wasn't in the truck with his friends anymore, but instead, in some underground bunker. It was this moment that Matt knew that he was having a flashback. A flashback to his earlier days of the outbreak, that, for some odd reason, decided to haunt him in the specific moment he was in before it all began.

_**49 Days in: Fort Benning**_

The many sounds of the military shouting and firing their weapons could be heard on the outside of the bunker that Matt and many survivors were currently held in. He turned his head to see a young mother caressing a newborn baby, who continued to cry loudly while the mother tried to calm it down. He turned his head to the opposite direction to see that there was a man praying quietly in Spanish. At that moment, he heard a man scream from the other side of the room, prompting him to shoot his head towards the direction.

"We're gonna die! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" the man shouted.

"Shut up, Arnold!" shouted a woman in anger.

The man beside him continued to pray louder as his voice got more desperate; Matt suddenly looked down at his hands to see that they were covered in dried blood and dirt.

"God damnit!" shouted a man. "If that guy hadn't killed that other guy, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"You're not making this better, Shaun!" shouted the same woman.

"Shut up, Meredith!" the man called Shaun roared at the woman. "All you do is tell people to shut up and start fights! I'm tired of listening to your voice just constantly screaming!"

"My baby is dead!" Meredith screamed.

"I don't give a fuck about your child!" Shaun shouted as he slapped Meredith across the cheek.

At that moment, the sound of a shotgun pumping could be heard as Shaun turned around. Before he could even get a word in, his entire head was blown off by the man holding the shotgun. Many people screamed as blood got splattered all over Matt's face, though he seemed unfazed by it.

"Now goddamnit, I've had it with ya!" the man shouted in a heavy Southern accent. "Y'all gone insane! Them zombies are bad enough but now I can't even feel safe with you guys. In a situation like this, I can't afford to trust nobody!"

The man aimed his shotgun at Meredith and fired it, completely tearing her torso apart. Everyone began screaming as the man went on a massacre, shooting the many survivors in the bunker they were currently hiding in. Not wanting to die in the bunker of the military base, Matt acted quickly and grabbed lead pipe lying lazily on the ground beside him and stood up.

The man with the shotgun noticed Matt's sudden movement and immediately turned towards him, aiming his shotgun at Matt's head. However, Matt was quicker and swung his arm at the shotgun, knocking it away from his face as he swung his other hand, the hand holding the lead pipe, at the man's cheek. Upon impact, the man was struck down onto the floor as he accidentally pulled the trigger of the shotgun, causing it to fire at a woman, blowing her chin completely right off.

Matt swung the lead pipe and slammed it down onto the face of the man, causing his skull to crack as well as break his nose, indicated by the blood spilling out of his nostrils. Matt panted as he dropped the lead pipe onto the ground, staring at the dead man below him, all while a horrified expression was panted on his face. He raised his hands as he started to stare at them in pure horror while his pupils shrunk and shook violently inside his eyes. His mouth trembled as his breathing was shaky and heavy while his heartbeat was speeding rapidly like a locomotive.

_That was the first time I ever killed somebody._

"They're getting in!" shouted a man.

Matt shot his head to the side to see that several walkers broke through the glass window of a door. On the other side of the bunker, another door was brought down from the weight of the walkers piling on top of it. At that moment, the few survivors that were in the bunker began to get devoured by the walkers while some tried their best to defend themselves by punching and kicking, but to no avail.

The traumatized teen stood there in the middle of the bunker as the walkers all came spilling into the room as they devoured the survivors. Everything around him suddenly slowed down as Matt stared dead ahead having a traumatized, yet empty expression on his face. Everything went silent and slowed down around him as the world seemed to only focus on him, in the middle of the massacre he was in, watching as the many survivors he come to accompany over the days get viciously murdered in front of his eyes.

_At this point, I realized one thing…_

…

_There was no escape from this harsh reality…_

* * *

_Heya Tom, it's Bob… from the office up the hall…_

_Good to see you buddy, how've you been?_

_Things have been okay for me except that I'm a zombie now_

_I really wish you'd let us in_

_I think I speak for all of us when I say I understand_

_Why you folks might hesitate to submit to our demand_

_But here's an FYI: you're all gonna die screaming_

_All we want to do is eat your brains_

_We're not unreasonable, I mean, no one's gonna eat your eyes_

_All we want to do is eat your brains_

_We're at an impasse here, maybe we should compromise_

_If you open up the door_

_We'll all come inside and eat your brains_

**Infection of the Dead: The Other Side of Life**

* * *

"_We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it."_

* * *

A lone walker roamed across an empty street as it growled instinctively, it's dead eyes staring up into the sky. At that moment, the sounds of several engines running could be heard, causing the walker to turn to the direction of where the sound was coming from. Suddenly, several cars came driving down the street, that consisted of an SUV, a cargo truck, and another SUV. The line of cars passed the walker as it continued to roam around freely.

Inside the cargo truck were the new prisoners that were captured by the Timberwolves: the boathouse survivors along with Matt and Hunter. All of them had their hands tied either behind their backs or in front of them with ropes. Matt leaned against the cargo truck's inside walls while his companion tried his best to get the ropes off his wrists. The only sounds in the entire truck were the muffled sound of the engine running, the many objects the truck was running over, Hunter's struggled grunts, Joe's quiet snoring, and Melony's quiet sobs muffled into her brother's shoulder.

Matt took a look at Hunter, whom was biting his rope to try and rip it off of his wrists. The teen sighed through his nose as he closed his eyes. "It's not gonna work, Hunter." Matt says, the first to talk out the deafening silence ever since they were captured.

"Why's that?" Hunter asked in an aggressive tone.

"Let's say you _do_ get your ropes off. What then?" he asked. "The door is locked and the only way to unlock it is from the outside. Those guys will open it and see that you have your restraints off. If you make a run for it, not only will you get lost because you've never been to their base before, but you'll possibly get shot in the back as well."

"Kid's got a point." Bernard spoke up. "The Timberwolves don't mess around with hostages and people who abandon them and the like."

"Well we gotta do something you guys!" Hunter shouted. "We can't just be these guys' hostages! We didn't do anything to them! Why are we even mixed up in this?!"

"Wrong place. Wrong time." Jaren replies.

"Like we said, the Timberwolves don't care who you are. They only care about themselves and they don't care who they hurt." Cheryl replied.

"They can't get away with this!" Hunter shouted.

"They have been for years." Jaren replied. "They're notorious and callous and have a warped philosophy on life."

"They're psychopaths is what they are." Cheryl says.

"Kid, you said you've been in bad groups before." Hunter says to his comrade. Matt looked up at the mention of his nickname given to him by his friend. "Tell me how they function."

"I can't tell you how they function." Matt says. "I never been with the Timberwolves. Each community is different than the next. There's no possible way for me to tell you how these guys work. Besides, I was never a hostage in my communities. I was usually a high ranking guard or an officer or something."

"High ranking?!" Cheryl shouts. "Like how high?!"

"High enough to be the right hand man of the leader of one of the groups I was with." Matt answered. "At one point, I almost became leader of an entire community, before it got burned down to shreds."

"Damn!" Hunter shouted as he slammed his fists at the wall.

"This is terrible!" Melony cried. "I never thought we would've been captured by these monsters again!"

"Goddamnit, Hunter!" Matt shouted, scaring everybody in the back of the truck. "I told you joining a group would've been a bad idea! We haven't been with these people for ONE FUCKING DAY AND ALREADY WE'RE MIXED UP IN THEIR SHIT! That's the last time I ever listen to you, you fucking dipshit!"

"Fuck you, kid!" Hunter shouted. "Don't take your anger out on me! I was only trying to protect the two of us!"

"Some protection. Thanks to you, we got captured by a bunch of psychos that we never even met! You're a fucking cunt, you know that, Hunter!"

"Shut the fuck up, kid!" Hunter shouted. "I've dealt with your abuse and your insults for far too long! I don't know why I even chose to stick around with you if all you do is give me shit!"

"You're making me regret that I ever saved your ass from that shed!" Matt shouted in intense rage. "I should've just continued walking and left you to get eaten by those walkers! But for some reason, I decided to save your worthless ass! Biggest mistake of my life!"

"FUCK YOU!" Hunter shouted.

"Will you two shut up?!" Bernard shouted, silencing everyone in the truck. Cheryl looked at Bernard with a surprised expression. "Fightin' ain't gonna get us out of this here situation. You're just wastin' your energy."

Matt and Hunter looked at Bernard with considerate eyes before they turned to face each other; they both bowed their heads down as regretful expressions fell upon their faces.

"Sorry." Matt apologized.

"Yeah. Me too." Hunter replied.

"You've got to be kidding me? They already let bygones be bygones not even a minute after their intense fight?! Men are so confusing." Cheryl whispered to herself.

At that moment, the truck suddenly shook as everyone almost lost their balance. "We're getting close." Bernard said.

"How can you tell?" Hunter asked.

The truck shook some more. "The road's getting bumpy." Was all Bernard said.

Suddenly, the sounds of the truck beeping could be heard, indicating that it was backing up into somewhere. At that moment, the engine stopped as everything went quiet; the survivors inside the truck all looked towards the door, waiting for it to be opened by the Timberwolves outside. As if on cue, the door could be heard unlocking as it was lifted up by none other than Jericho

"Enjoy your trip?" Jericho asked, giving them a malicious smile. "I know we did."

"Fuck you." Cheryl hissed.

Jericho turned around, the smile not leaving his face. "Not until later." he says nonchalantly. "Come on. Let's get them out of there. Our leader wants to see some old friends and a batch of new faces." he suddenly turned around to face the group. "I know you're gonna love our leader to those who we never met."

A few Timberwolves aimed their custom made weapons at the group, forcing them out of the truck as the began walking with the antagonistic group. As soon as stepped outside, the first thing they smelt was the smell of smoke and flames. Matt looked up to see that a huge smoke cloud was coming from the middle of the Timberwolf base, along with a fire orange sky with gray clouds lingering in the hazardous air.

The group of survivors continued to walk with their capturers as they turned the corner. Immediately, Matt and Hunter stopped as they gasped at the sight in front of them. Matt's eyes widened as he stared at the front gates of the Timberwolf base, bewildered and horrified at the sight in front of him. At the front gates of the Timberwolf base was a huge wall of walkers, piled up on top of one another as several sticks impaled through the wall like they were made out of paper. Some walkers were alive, indicating by the sounds of their growls, while some were long dead.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph." Hunter whispered.

"Keep it moving!" shouted a Timberwolf as he shoved Matt and Hunter ahead.

"Cheryl, what the hell is this this place?" Hunter whispered to the girl.

"Told you this place was a hellhole." Cheryl said. "That wall of walkers represents their horrific ways of life. Believe it or not, most of those walkers you see in that wall, weren't walkers… They were survivors." Matt and Hunter gasped at the horrific news. "Survivors who were either once Timberwolves or prisoners. They either tried to escape or didn't agree with the way of life the Timberwolves were living. Either way, they were executed and planted in that wall at the front gates."

"Is that gonna be us?" Matt asked.

"I don't think so." Cheryl replied. "Well, you guys at least. Me and Bernard and the siblings though…" She suddenly grew a saddened expression. "Well… We just might."

Matt and Hunter shot her a sympathetic look; at that moment, the sound of a radio turning on could be heard. The two turned their heads to see Jericho holding a transceiver in his hands. "Oscar. Open up the front gates. It's Devil Dog. We have some familiar faces as well as some new ones that I'm sure our leader would be happy to see."

"Copy. Opening the front gates now." said a voice whom was presumably Oscar on the other line.

On cue, the gates began to open slowly yet loudly; after a few moments, the gates finally opened all the way as the Timberwolves forced their captives inside the compound, with the gates closing as they made their way inside. Almost immediately, Matt and Hunter began examining the inside of the Timberwolf base, noticing many things about it.

For starters, the main part of the base appeared to be some sort of abandoned factory of some sort with many buildings surrounding it, most likely the living quarters for the Timberwolves. They then noticed there was a flag pole by the front doors of the factory with a what appeared to be a custom made flag with several holes and rips in it. The flag was completely black while there appeared to be a symbol painted in red on it; said symbol appeared to look like an uncompleted oval with three lines at the end, each line extending one after the other. On top of the oval were three more lines, all with different lengths, while right smack in the oval was a single red dot. No doubt that this demonic eye like symbol for the Timberwolves. They then turned their heads to see a huge pile of tires set on fire, burning the rubber as the smoke flew up into the air, no doubt the same smoke they saw outside the gates.

The two of them turned to their right where they could see a Timberwolf standing on top of ledge with many other Timberwolves standing below him. Next to the above Timberwolf was a person with sack covering his head while his ankles were tied as well as his hands tied behind his back; a noose was also hung around his neck.

"My fellow Timberwolves!" the Timberwolf's voice boomed over the area. "There comes a time in a man's life to decide whether or not he shall sacrifice his life for his love! We all know who we love. Our beloved leader! Our savior! Our God! This man…" the Timberwolf pointed to the bagged man.

"Please." the man begged underneath the sack.

"…has broken our rule!" the Timberwolf continued. "He was caught trying to escape our safe haven! He was caught with a bag. A bag filled with medicine, food, ammunition, and a single pistol! No doubt he was trying to leave us! We all know what we do to traitor here!"

The Timberwolves all cheered as they raised their weapons in the air.

"Please! I beg you!" the man pleaded for his life.

The Timberwolf ignored him. "Stealing our supplies is no better than sneaking into your room and slitting your throat in your sleep!" The Timberwolf continued. "There comes a time in every man's life to make a decision. It is never that easy to make a difficult decision. You'll end up disappointing one side or the other. The concern of a single individual does not matter. What matters is the community! Every soldier knows that the community comes first. That he's willing to live for the community… To fight for the community… To _die_ for the community… Since he was too much of a coward to make a decision… how about we decide for him!"

The Timberwolf suddenly placed his foot on the back of the man's back.

"No! No! Please!" the man screamed bloody murder.

The Timberwolf suddenly kicked the man off the ledge as the noose around his neck tightening. The sound of a neck snapping could be heard all around the area, as the man's legs went limp. Every Timberwolf in the crowd cheered as they raised their weapons in the air.

Matt and Hunter both grew wide eyes as their mouths were slightly gaped at the gruesome sight in front of them. They were suddenly pushed ahead by one of the Timberwolves escorting them. "Move along." the Timberwolf said. "There's nothing for you two to see here."

"What the hell kind of community is this?" Matt whispered.

"Like I said. One of the worst." Cheryl replied.

Matt suddenly turned to the left and immediately gasped; in front of him was a huge ditch that looked to be about 30 feet wide. However, the length wasn't the focal point of the entire ditch, but instead, the many walkers inside the pit, roaming around aimlessly as they all growled in hunger, waiting for their next meal. In one part of the pit were a few walkers, on their knees as they were consuming what was left of a person that was inside the ditch.

"I see you noticed our Well of Souls." Jericho said as he got down to Matt's level. "The Well of Souls is reserved only for those who have shown that they are untrustworthy, who aren't faithful to our leader. But what really sends you to the Well of Souls is when you do something so diabolical that it shatters the entire community. That person in that pit, do you know what he did? He tried to bomb the entire community. It was our leader that found him planting the bomb and caught the fucker red handed. No trial. No jury. Just immediately sent to the Well of Souls."

"Why is it called the Well of Souls?" Hunter asked.

Jericho turned to Hunter and gave him a malicious grin. "Because it's pit… with a lot of lost souls turned walkers." he deviously explain, cackling a little bit.

Hunter gulped in fear as he was shoved ahead by a Timberwolf, along with his companion. The survivors and their capturers lead them into the main building of the Timberwolf base, which was the factory. As they walked inside, the many cheers of the Timberwolves as well as the crackling of the huge tire base bonfire outside the factory.

* * *

The Timberwolves lead their prisoners inside the factory's basement, which had many cells up against the wall. As Matt and the rest were being transported to their cells, they noticed other prisoners in their own respective cells. Some were chained to the wall while some were roaming around freely inside, though they looked deprived of natural human necessities, such as food and water. There were even some that were either sleeping or dead on the ground.

After a minute of walker, the Timberwolves stopped the survivors as one of them grabbed a key from their pocket and unlocked a cell door. Bernard, Cheryl, Jaren, and Melony were all shoved inside the cell; two of the Timberwolves placed their hands on Matt and Hunter's shoulders, before Jericho placed his hand in front of the two captives.

"Not these four." he said. "Since these guys are new, they're getting their own cell."

Joey began using sign language at Jericho; the Timberwolf grew an eyebrow as well as a skeptical look as he faced the other three. "What'd he say?" he asked.

Joe simply gave Jericho a nervous expression. "It's best if I don't say." he replied in a scared tone.

Jericho simply shrugged. "Whatever. I don't care either way." he turned to face his allies. "Get these four to the left end cell." The Timberwolves began leading the four survivors towards the end cell, while Jericho grabbed his transceiver and turned it on. "Devil Leader, the prisoners we captured are in their cells. You can stop by and check anytime you want." he spoke to the transceiver.

Matt, Hunter, Joe, and Joey were all shoved inside the cell as the door closed, with the Timberwolf locking it before they walked away. A voice could be heard on the other side of the transceiver that Jericho was holding, most likely the so called "leader" of the Timberwolves.

"I will take care of them right away, sir." Jericho replied before he hung up. He placed the transceiver in his pocket as he approached the cell doors. "Lucky you. The leader is in a good mood. He'll be happy to know we have new members of our family."

"If you think we're gonna work for you, then you're damn-"

Hunter was interrupted as the sound of a gun cocking could be heard. In front of him, Jericho held a pistol in his hand as he smirked devilishly at the former ghost hunter. "What you think or say doesn't matter in this situation." he says in a cold tone. "What matters is that you're in our territory now, meaning we can do whatever we want with you. If it were up to me, you four would've been killed in that forest we found you in. Our leader has special plans for you four. First, he's gonna test you, see if you have what it takes to be a Timberwolf. If you don't, then you die. If you do, then welcome to the family. Of course, we know no one will willingly join a hostile group that captured them. That's why our leader is the master of mind games. He can literally mess up your mind within minutes. Brainwashing. A trick that even the military used on it's victims."

"So that's what he did to you?" Hunter asked. "He brainwashed you?"

"Nah." Jericho replied, giving him a smile. "I just like how the guy thinks. Most of the people you see here, he didn't even need to brainwash them. They were already here from the previous communities that we once were before we changed into the glorified settlement that we are now. Most of the people are just like me: followers of our savior. We just love how the man thinks and how he gets the job done, one way or another. It takes guts and balls for a man to do what he has to do, and boy does our leader have those guts and balls. That's why he's such a great leader. He doesn't give a shit about what happens to him, just as long as the community comes first. He gets shit done quick and easy, kind of like how your death will be if you keep acting up. Do you understand, you runt?"

Hunter growled in pure anger. "Atta boy." Jericho says as he placed his gun in his holster. "Now be a good little dog and sit and stay. Wait until your master arrives."

With that said, Jericho walked away, disappearing behind the corner, leaving the four survivors now prisoners trapped in their cells. They each slumped against the wall as defeated expressions fell upon their faces; Hunter sighed through his nose as he ran a hand through his hair, Joe and Joey comforted each other, while Matt simply looked straight ahead, his eyes appearing lifeless and dead.

Various muffled sounds from outside or from the next room could be heard as well as the sounds of water dripping from the metal pipes, along with various sobbing and crying from the other prisoners. The muffled sound of a shotgun pumping could be heard from outside, followed by a gunshot.

***BANG!***

"Bill! Quit shootin' me!" shouted a Timberwolf from outside.

***BANG! BANG! BANG!***

"Nah." a voice whom was presumably Bill replied.

Matt continued to stare off into space, since that was basically all he could do until their so called "leader" showed up. "Hey." a voice next to him said. Matt turned his head to see Joe looking at him. "Do I look like a lesbian at this angle?"

Matt continued to stare at Joe, whom stared back; neither said a word, that is, until Matt grabbed a rock and threw it at Joe's face, causing him to fall onto Joey's lap.

"Okay. Maybe another time." Joe mumbled.

"Why are we just sitting around here not doing anything?!" Hunter shouted.

"Because there's nothing for us to do, Hunter." Matt replied. "We're trapped in a cell. Trying to break out will only make things worse. It's just best to sit tight and wait until their leader shows up."

"You may want to sit around here and do nothing, kid, but that's not who I am!" Hunter continued to shout. "I can't just sit around here and wait for something to happen! I'm a man of action! I gotta find a way out of here so we can escape!"

"Use your head, moron." Matt said harshly. "Even if we do escape these cells, we still have a literal army out there who will probably kill us on sight! They have all these customized weapons and shit, we'll obviously be at a disadvantage!"

"Then we improvise! Fuck! I don't know!" Hunter shouted.

"That's not a plan. You don't plan to improvise." Matt said.

"Jesus Christ, kid! Who's side are you on?!"

"I'm on the logical side!"

"Logical my ass! What's logical is trying to break out of here!"

"Now THAT'S not logical! That's just insanity!"

"Will you two shut up! I'm trying to sleep over here!" shouted a prisoner from another cell.

"You shut up!" shouted another prisoner shouted.

"No, you shut up!"

"Just… SHUT UP!"

"EVERYONE! SHUT THE FUCK UP FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" shouted a third prisoner. "Can a guy get some rest before he's publicly executed for FIVE GODDAMN MINUTES?!"

"DON'T SWEAR TO GOD!" shouted a female prisoner.

"FREEDOM OF SPEECH! FREEDOM OF SPEECH!"

"Great." Matt mumbled. "We're stuck in a prison filled with idiots."

"I heard that!" shouted another random prisoner.

"You see what you did, Hunter?" Matt asked. "Just, please… don't do anything rash, alright? The best thing we can do is to just wait until their so called 'leader' show up." Matt used air quotes when he said "leader".

"You can't reason with those guys!" Hunter exclaimed.

"He's right. You can't." Joe added.

Matt turned to Joe and gave him an irritated look. "No one asked you!" he exclaimed harshly. Joe merely rolled his eyes in response. "Look, all I'm saying is: don't try to fuck us over with your barbaric ideas. I've seen this situation ten times over and every single time someone stages a breakout, they always end up getting shot up."

"I thought you said you never were a prisoner in your previous groups?" Hunter replied.

"I never said I was a prisoner. All I said was that I saw this situation before. That's all."

"How many groups did you say you were in?" Joe suddenly asked.

Matt turned to the half deaf duo and gave them a serious expression; he then suddenly began debating whether or not he should tell the three his life in the outbreak. After a few moments, he sighed heavily through his nostrils, ready to tell his story. He opened his mouth to start the tale, only for the metal bars of the cell they were in began banging, startling the four. They turned their heads to see a Timberwolf staring down at them, wielding what appeared to be a sledgehammer with two fire axes taped to the side, with the axes pointing at opposite directions while on top of the hammer part of the sledgehammer; all of this was made possible by duct tape wrapping the parts of the axe onto the sledgehammer.

"Boss wants to see you now. He seems pretty pissed." the Timberwolf said as he opened the cell.

At that moment, several other Timberwolves came walking behind the first one as Matt and the other three walked out of their cells. They were quickly placed in zip ties as were captured once more, before being shoved ahead by the antagonistic members, whom all wielded some sort of custom made weapon of some sort. The Timberwolves led the four towards the exit of cellblock as they transported them over to their leader.

* * *

The four prisoners walked towards some double doors, guarded by two Timberwolves. The Timberwolf ahead of the four suddenly opened the doors, which revealed to be an office of some kind behind them. The Timberwolves suddenly pushed the four survivors to the ground as they closed the door, leaving them alone with only one person: Jericho.

The man in the trenchcoat turned around and simply sneered at the four, unlike his usual devious, sadistic grin he had when he first captured them.

"Where's the-"

Joe's words were suddenly cut off short when a door on the other side of the room burst open, revealing a man backing up as he fell to the ground.

"No! Wait!" the man. A second man suddenly came out of the room and approached the begging man on the floor. "I'm sorry! I really am! I didn't mean to say that! Honest! I was only saying that out of anger! I would never hold a revolution against you, sir! I swear!"

The second man tower above the first man, giving him a dead eye glare. The man wore a black leather jacket with a big leopard fur hood with spots on it. He wore a pair of black cargo pants with the ends stuffed inside two black leather tactical boots; he also wore two belts, one to support his pants while the other was carelessly wrapped around his waist. Underneath his leather jacket was a black shirt with a red Anarchy symbol on it; he also sported a pair of black fingerless gloves as well as a chain draped over his neck. The man's hair was brown while spiked backwards, while another feature was his right ear, which had a chunk of it missing.

The man suddenly stopped as he looked down at his begging prey. "It's funny how stories seem to change when faced with the very real possibility of death." the man says. "Wouldn't you say, Craig?"

"Y-Yes! Very funny! Ha ha! See! I'm laughing, sir!" Craig nervously said.

"No… It's not funny!" the man suddenly shouted, scaring Craig. "Men shouldn't cower in fear even in the face of death! They stand up and defend who they are and who they love! They stand up against the enemy and give it all they got! Humans aren't meant to be quitters! We're meant to evolve! To adapt! This apocalypse is the perfect solution! So I give thanks to whichever God created this because now people are more resourceful than ever! No more laws. No more government. We're back to the primal ages! Do you know what we have in common with our Neanderthal selves? We never give up and we continue to fight until the end. We don't know the meaning of failure. We only see opportunity to get better from our mistakes. You Craig, just proved yourself, that you are willing to give up your self confidence, your will to fight, your human instincts, just to survive. You Craig… aren't fit to be in this world."

The man suddenly pulled out a Desert Eagle, which was tinted blue with fire painted on the slide of the gun; a white bloody skull was also painted on the grip of the Desert Eagle, while the puzzle was painted blood red. The man aimed the Desert Eagle at Craig's forehead and pulled down the hammer.

"No! Wait! Please! PLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAASE!"

Craig's screams were cut short when the man fired the Desert Eagle at his head, creating a hole in his forehead, killing him instantly. Craig's body limply fell to the ground as the man stepped over it, placing his double sided sword away. The man approached the four survivors and simply glared down at them. Said four looked up in fear, including Matt, whom was known to barely show any sense of fear at all.

The man, whom was no doubt the leader of the Timberwolves continued to glare down at them… before he sighed through his nose and cupped his face. He exhaled heavily as he looked up, having a very disappointed expression on his face; his attention then turned to Jericho and gave him the same disappointed look.

"I thought I told you, Jericho… 'No newcomers'." the man calmly said. Jericho grew an uncomfortable look as he avoided eye contact with the man. "Let me repeat that. 'No newcomers.' Not, 'Bring newcomers.'... Now usually when I say these things, there are no double meanings. Just straight to the point. I'm not fucking around when I give orders. So... Let's have a test, shall we? 'No'… 'Bring'… 'No!'... 'Bring'… Do those... sound… the same?" By now, the man was obviously very mad.

"I kind of forgot." Jericho meekly said as he avoided eye contact.

"I'm sorry. I didn't hear you. What did you say?"

"I kind of forgot." Jericho repeated.

"'Kind of forgot'?... How did you 'kind of' forget an order _so_ simple as that? I don't- I don't understand. It is SO EASY TO FOLLOW THOSE ORDERS AND YET... you fuck it up... That's right. You fucked up, Jericho. You fucked up the most simplest orders ver given to you in your entire slacker life... And you know what the worst part is, Jericho?... I hate it when my men 'kind of forget'." The man suddenly swung the back of his hand at Jericho's face, knocking him down to the ground. Hunter winced as the man began to bombard Jericho a harsh assault as he continuously began punching his face. "YOU HAD ONE! FUCKING! JOB! AND YOU COULDN'T! FUCKING! DO THAT!"

Jericho suddenly gasped for air as his face was bloated and bleeding, several cuts and bruises on his cheeks and face. "I'm sorry, sir." Jericho managed to speak out.

The man swung down a final punch at Jericho's face, completely knocking him out as he stood back up, panting from the assault he just gave. He suddenly turned around to face the four prisoners before taking a look at his hands, giving off a disappointed sigh.

"Great." he said aloud. "I got blood on my fucking glove now." He began panting heavily as he looked at Matt right in the eyes. "I'm sorry you had to see that. Welcomed newcomers or not, you should never see such a sight."

"I literally saw one of your men execute a man 18th century style." Matt replied.

The man simply scoffed at Matt's comment. "What's your name, son?" he asked.

"Mr. Potassium." Matt sarcastically replied.

The man shrugged in response. "Hm. I'm kind of a protein guy myself." he says.

"Who are you?" asked Hunter.

"_I'm_ asking the questions here!" the man shouted in anger, startling Hunter, who flinched back. "I'm just kidding!" he suddenly laughed, confusing the four. "You're looking at the leader of this graceful community. The Timberwolf King!" Matt simply turned to Hunter and shot him a confused look, whom did the say, shrugging a bit. "Now tell me…" the man crouched down to face the four. "What are your names?" he smiled.

Matt swallowed his fear down. "My name is Matilda Dillon but I go by 'Matt'." he answered as calmly as possible. "That there is Hunter Spector… the other two are Joe and Joey. Joe's deaf."

"No, _Joey's_ deaf. I'm Joe." Joe replied.

"Excuse me. I've only known you for a day!" Matt shouted.

"Ah, so you're the short temper one." the man replied.

"That's funny. Because a guy downstairs said the same thing." Matt said in a harsh tone.

"Kid, keep your cool." Hunter whispered.

"Nah, I like this kid." the man replied as he patted Matt on the head. "The name is Cyrus Wolfe. I'm the leader of this community: the Wolf's Den."

"You already said that." Matt says.

"I'm in the middle of my fucking introduction, kid." Cyrus replied as he shot Matt a glare. "Anyway, I apologize for my idiot second in command. I did not tell him to bring me newcomers. I told him to bring me back my old allies."

"Bernard and the others?" Matt asked.

"Precisely. You, on the other hand, I've never seen you four before in my life… Well except you." he pointed at Hunter. "I've seen you on TV."

Hunter's face suddenly brightened up. "Hey! Another one who watched my show!" he excitedly said.

"Oh my God. Nobody cares!" Matt shouted.

"For the short amount of time I've known this kid, he's right." Cyrus replied. "It doesn't matter anymore."

"I- I said that nobody cares-"

"-About what you have to say, squirt." Cyrus finished. Hunter stifled a laugh, earning a glare from Matt. "Point is, whatever you once were before all this started doesn't matter anymore. What matters now is becoming the best of who we are. Adapting to our new surroundings. Evolving as a human race! This world is a life or death situation! The survival of the fittest!" He bent down to Matt's eye level and gave him a smile. "Do you know what that is?"

"Yeah." Matt confirmed in an aggressive tone, giving him a glare. "It's basically a test on who's mentally and physically stronger than the other and if they're capable of surviving whatever bullshit gets thrown in their way."

Cyrus shrugged. "Eh, you got it in a nutshell." he said. "You see, now in this age of the apocalypse, the survival of the fittest is a necescessity, much like food and water. You need to have what it takes to survive in this world, otherwise you'll end up dead… in a ditch… or maybe in an explosion. Either way… you need to have the will and strength to survive. Nothing more and nothing less."

Matt simply glared at Cyrus and tilted his head a little bit. "If that's how you view the world now, I sure as hell don't want to meet your wife."

Cyrus chuckled maliciously as he gave a toothy grin to Matt. "I love a kid with some spunk in them." he says. "Gives them energy, which turns into motivations, which boils into power."

Matt stared at Cyrus with an empty expression, a natural user of poker face like him was a master of this tactic. "Were you a pedophile before all this started?" he asked.

"You're thinking of Ephebophilia." Cyrus replied nonchalantly. "It's a sexual attraction towards teenagers rather than kids. Anyone 12 and under is considered pedophilia. And to answer your question, no, I'm not. I coached a University football team back then. So I'm a natural leader and I know how to bring out the inner potential of others."

"That's great." Matt sarcastically replied. "While you were out coaching, I was out getting high and robbing convenience stores since my parents didn't give a damn about me."

Cyrus stared at Matt with the same emotionless expression Matt had on just now, before he simply smiled at him. "You know something, kid?" Cyrus asked. Matt remained silent. "I think you and I are gonna have a very special relationship."

"Tsh. Creep." Matt replied.

"You say creep, I say…" Cyrus then got close to Matt ear and whispered, "your God." Matt simply sneered at Cyrus, obviously thinking he was crazy. The Timberwolf leader stood up and looked down at the four, giving them a sinister grin. "Well, while I didn't ask for any new survivors, I have a gut feeling that you four will be useful, despite one of you being impaired and all. But that's the beauty of evolution and adaptation. Through will and survival, humans can overcome any obstacle. Including deafness."

Cyrus suddenly walked passed the four as he bent down behind Joey, untying his restraints, an action that caused confusion amongst the group. Joey stares at Cyrus, whom walked back to being in front of him, in confusion, wondering why he took off his restraints. Cyrus suddenly began speaking sign language to Joey to communicate with him.

(Don't worry. You will have special privileges here in our community.)

Joey's eyes widened, surprised that another survivor knew sign language. Even more surprised that it was the crazed lunatic in charge of this even more crazed community. Cyrus then began speaking sign language to Joey once again.

(These three are your friends, right?)

Joey, in response, began speaking sign language as well.

(Yes. Along with four others.)

Cyrus simply smiled. (I can't promise the safety of your friends but I can promise that you specifically will be well protected in this community. We look after our disables.)

Joey blinked in pure surprise while his mouth was slightly gaped. Cyrus smirked at the reaction of the deaf man as he stood back up, towering over the fallen four survivors. "Well, I think that wraps things up." he says. "Manny!"

At that moment, an overweight man with a bald head walked into the room. "Yeah?" he asked in a slight Hispanic accent.

"Take these two," Cyrus pointed to Hunter and Joe. "back to their cells. Take the the deaf one out to the front yard. Meanwhile, take this kid with the long hair…" he gave Matt a shit eating grin. "Take him to the Arena."

Matt's eyes widened at the sound of the sinister name. "I'm sor- What?!" Matt stammered as he was forced up to his feet.

"Make sure the two prisoners get their own separate cells." Cyrus instructed. "And bring me the other four that were captured along with these guys… And someone clean up this mess. The blood is staining the carpet."

Several Timberwolves came walking into the room while one walked over to the unconscious Jericho. As the man placed his hands on Jericho's shoulders, the man groaned out in pain as he woke up from his unconsciousness.

"Mee maw? Is that you?" Jericho groaned as he was helped back up to his feet.

Matt and the other three were escorted out of the room as the Timberwolf helped Jericho exit the room as well.

"Take him to the infirmary." Cyrus ordered. "And make sure he doesn't overdose on pain meds again. The last thing I need is my second in command getting high for a second time."

The doors to the factory office then closed.

* * *

The doors to an unknown room was suddenly shot wide open as a Timberwolf lead Matt down a dark hallway, much to the teen's chagrin. "Hey! Come on, man! Where you taking me?!" Matt shouted.

"Shut up." the Timberwolf mumbled.

"You're lucky I have my hands tied otherwise I would've kicked your ass and knocked all of your teeth out by now!" Matt threatened.

"Ooooh. Big talk from such a small guy in restraints." the Timberwolf taunted.

"Don't call me small! I'm 5'9" for your information!" Matt shouted in anger.

"Keep up that anger, kid." the Timberwolf told him as the two approached some gates. "You're gonna need it in the Arena."

"What exactly is the 'Arena'?" Matt asked.

At that moment, the gates opened, immediately shining light onto Matt's face, temporarily blinding him. As soon as he opened his eyes, he immediately saw what the 'Arena' was. In front of him was huge empty area surrounded by cages with a door opposite of him, with a single man in a leather jacket standing in the middle. Behind the cages were numerous of Timberwolves, all cheering and howling as they banged on the cages.

Matt remained silent as his eyes widened, fear striking his veins. "Well, that answered my question." he says.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" shouted the announcer from the middle of the Arena. "I'm your host, Giovanni Murrdock and I bring you all one of America's favorite sports of all time! CAAAAAAAAAGE FIGHTIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!" All the Timberwolves cheered and howled at that moment. "Tonight, we have a new guest on our hands fighting our current champion: Damien "Lockjaw" Caine!"

At that moment, the door opposite of Matt opened up, revealing a shirtless muscular built man in a beard wearing tight leather pants and boots; said man had multiple tattoos on him.

"The Lockjaw is HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE!" Lockjaw shouted into the air.

"Lockjaw! Lockjaw! Lockjaw! Lockjaw!" cheered the many Timberwolves in the Arena as they began punching their fists in sync.

"Will the next victim please enter the Arena at this time." Murrdock announced. "If he can withstand just three minutes in this fight with Damien "Lockjaw" Caine the Timberwolf community will have a new member by the name of…" Murrdock suddenly reached for the radio that was strapped to his shoulder. "What's the kid's name?" he asked to the radio.

_~Matilda Dillon.~_ The person on the other end replied.

Murrdock suddenly grew a confused look as he took a look behind him to get a better look at Matt. He took one quick glance at him before he turned back around, reaching for his radio once again.

"Matilda Dillon? Really? I thought he was a guy." Murrdock replied in a confused state.

_~Hey, that's what the kid said.~_

Murrdock scoffed. "Oh, that's stupid." he mumbled to himself as he brought the mic to his mouth once again. "The Timberwolf community will have a new member after withstanding three minutes in this fight by the name of… Matilda DILLOOOOOOOOOOOOON!"

At that moment, the chain gates in front of Matt suddenly opened as the Timberwolf that was holding onto him untied his restraints before he pushed him into the Arena. Matt fell stomach first onto the dirt, groaning in pain in the process as he tried to get up. Murrdock suddenly approached Matt and forced him up to his feet before he began walking with him.

"Listen to me, kid." Murrdock whispered to Matt. "Don't put up a fight. If you struggle, he's just gonna get mad and make things worse. If you don't do anything, he'll make it quick and painless."

"Wait!" Matt interjected, stopping Murrdock. "Is this a fight to the death?!" he asked.

Murrdock simply chuckled as he gave a sadistic, toothy grin at Matt. "For you, that is. What did you think this was? Go Fish?" he asked. He then brought the mic back to his mouth. "The rules are simple! ANYTHING GOES!" The Timberwolves in the Arena cheered and howled in response. "The fight… IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!"

The entire crowd went wild as they all cheered and/or howled. "CAAAAAAAAAAAAINE!" shouted a random Timberwolf.

"Wait!" Matt shouted at Murrdock. "Hold on! Jus- Wait! I didn't sign up for this! I don't want to participate in a deathmatch! I don't want to kill anybody! Please! Just let me out!"

"Hey, toddler!" Lockjaw shouted at Matt, grabbing his attention. "You're going nowheeeeeeeere. I got you in for three minutes! Three minutes of _playtime_."

Murrdock suddenly raised a gun in the air and fired it, immediately starting the fight as everyone in the crowd cheered. Lockjaw immediately ran towards Matt, giving him little time to react; however, in that short amount of time, Matt immediately grabbed some dirt and threw it at Lockjaw, getting dirt in his eyes, blinding him.

While his enemy was blinded, Matt took this as an opportunity to attack. He immediately balled up his fist and threw a powerful punch at Lockjaw's face, knocking him to the ground. The crowd all gasped at the sight of their champion down on the ground within the first seconds of the fight. Matt walked away at a safe distance while Lockjaw picked himself up, rubbing the dirt out of his eyes before he glared daggers towards him. Matt, meanwhile, simply gave him a shit eating grin.

Lockjaw growled as he immediately got on his feet and stormed his way towards the kid. Realizing he pushed the buttons on the wrong guy, Matt immediately turned around and started to run. However, he realized there was no place to run as he came face first into the chain link fence, along with a Timberwolf howling at him. He turned around to see Lockjaw raising his fists in the air; acting quickly, Matt ducked down just in time for Lockjaw to punch a literal hole in the fence, accidentally knocking out the Timberwolf that howled at Matt in the process.

Murrdock checked his watch and smiled. "39 seconds… New record." he says.

With Lockjaw stuck, Matt took this opportunity to attack once more; he raised his leg in the air and threw a swift kick to Lockjaw's torso. However, his abs were so powerful, that Matt ended up hurting his ankle while barely doing any damage to Lockjaw himself. Matt yelped in pain as he grabbed his ankle before he started to rub it to sooth the pain. At that moment, Lockjaw grabbed onto Matt's ankle as he pulled his arm out of the fence, cutting some of the skin off in the process.

Matt's eyes widened as Lockjaw easily raised Matt in the air for a split second before he slammed him down onto the ground, creating a painful shockwave to course through his body.

"I'm gonna break your leg!" Lockjaw sadistically shouted.

"Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!" chanted the many Timberwolves in the Arena.

"KILL HIIIIIM!" shouted an enthusiastic Timberwolf.

Matt suddenly raised his foot in the air and kicked Lockjaw in the face, causing him to loosen his grip on Matt for a short amount of time. In that short amount of time, Matt managed to slip out of Lockjaw's grasp before he did a kip up. As he was doing the kip up, Matt managed to aim the sole of his sneakers directly at Lockjaw's face; when he actually did the kip up, not only did Matt managed to land on his feet, he managed to kick Lockjaw in the face with both of his shoes, causing him to stumble backwards before he fell on his back.

Matt backed up once more as he watched Lockjaw shake away the pain, watching him getting up from the ground. The muscular Timberwolf suddenly began to charge his way towards Matt; the teen widened his eyes as he stood there, unable to think of any offensive strategy in such a caged off area, literally. So the next best thing he did was immediately duck below Lockjaw's punch, exposing his bare back to the teen. Acting quickly without having some sort of plan in mind, Matt immediately jumped on Lockjaw's back and grabbed his hair.

The teen began to yank the former pro wrestler's hair, much to the anger of Lockjaw himself. However, Matt immediately pushed himself forward, forcing Lockjaw to clash his head with the chain link fence. Lockjaw quickly recovered as pushed himself backwards, purposely falling on his back to crush the scrawny teen behind him. Having less than a second to react, Matt pushed himself off of Lockjaw. Unfortunately, Lockjaw managed to fall on top of Matt's right ankle, much to the teen's discomfort.

Matt yelped in pain as Lockjaw quickly got up and stood over him, covering his entire body with his towering body and shadow. He suddenly raised his foot in the air and hovered it over Matt's face, grinning maliciously at him. "This is gonna get messy." he chuckled.

"Oh mein Gott. (Oh my God.)" Matt mumbled in German.

"Lockjaw! Lockjaw! Lockjaw! Lockjaw!" the crowd cheered as they pumped their fists in the air.

Lockjaw suddenly slammed his foot towards Matt, as the entire crowd of Timberwolves gasped as their eyes went wide; even Murrdock was surprised at the outcome, as he grew a confused look. Lockjaw glared down below him as he gritted his teeth; below him, Matt was revealed to be very much alive as he caught the end of Lockjaw's boot, which was mere centimeters away from his face. His eyes went big as he pupils shrunk as sweat poured down his forehead as he used all of his strength to push the boot away. However, because Lockjaw had gravity on his side, this was proven to be a very difficult task.

So he had to get creative.

And creative he got. Matt began concentrating every bit of saliva in his mouth into a single ball of spit, before he projected it out of his mouth. The wad of spit impacted right into Lockjaw's right eye, temporarily blinding him, as well as disgusting him. He yelled out in disgust as he lifted his foot away from Matt, giving him more time to improvise. Acting without thinking, Matt grabbed a handful of dirt and turned to Lockjaw, whom was in the process of wiping the spit out of his eye.

Lockjaw met Matt's gaze and gave him an angry glare, before his glare was interrupted by a handful of dirt getting thrown into his face by Matt. He yelled out in anger once more as began to wipe away the dirt from his face; Matt quickly lifted his feet up in the air and aimed it towards his opponent's face. After Lockjaw regained his composure, he looked down again only to see the soles of Matt's sneakers. Realizing what Matt was doing, his eyes widened as everything around the two slowed down.

Matt gave a determined expression as Lockjaw gave off a look of sudden realization. And then, everything went back to normal as Matt used all of his strength to kick himself forward, doing a kip up. Matt kicked himself in the air as he kicked Lockjaw right in the face, causing him to fall backwards. Suddenly, both contendants fell to the ground as dirt and dust was lifted all around them.

The former pro wrestler grabbed his face in pain as he retracted his hand, revealing that there was blood on it as well as having a bloody nose. Matt quickly got up from the ground and got on top of Lockjaw and began to punch the former pro wrestler right in the face. He landed a single, powerful punch to Lockjaw's cheek, only for his opponent to slowly turn his head back to Matt, giving him a hateful glare with a sinister grin on the side.

"Is that all you got?" Lockjaw chuckled maliciously.

Matt, on the brink of running out of ideas, improvised at the last second; he stuck his index finger into his mouth and began to finger his uvula, triggering his gag reflexes. This triggered the body's natural way of getting rid of any choking hazards in the throat: Regurgitation. In one second, the stomach contents shot up through his esophagus as Matt proceeded to throw up all over Lockjaw's face, disgusting both him, as well as the crowd. A single Timberwolf could be seen turning around to throw up himself behind the crowd.

Everyone went silent as Matt panted heavily, having thrown up what was left of his food from the last time he ate. Lockjaw slowly wiped away the puke off of his face as he grew an incredibly disgusted look, before looking up at Matt. He took a glance at the kid on top of him before taking a glance at the almost digested food on his finger, before looking back at Matt.

"What in God's name-"

Lockjaw was immediately cut off as Matt used all of his force to punch Lockjaw right in the face, causing him to bang his head on the ground. The teen immediately began to lay down a bombardment of powerful punches towards Lockjaw's face. Eventually, after the vicious assault laid onto him by the scrawny teen, Lockjaw closed his eyes as he went unconscious; and just like that, after a moment of silence, the crowd went wild as they all began to cheer and howl. Murrdock suddenly ran up to the unconscious body of Lockjaw and checked his pulse, finding one in the process. He began slamming his hands on the dirt as he started counting, getting more excited with each number.

"1! 2! 3! That's it! That's it!" Murrdock suddenly got up and grabbed Matt's arm and raised it in the air. "WINNER! Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for you our new Timberwolf: MATT DILLOOOOOOOOON!"

"Dillon! Dillon! Dillon! Dillon! Dillon!" cheered the Timberwolves as they all howled into the air.

Matt stood there in the middle of the Arena, not knowing how to take in the cheering. Without even thinking, a smile grew on his face which turned into him throwing his hands in the air and cheering as well. Matt was surrounded by the many cheers and howls of the Timberwolves as he too began to triumphantly cheer and howl into the air, obviously estatic of his recent victory.

* * *

Cyrus sat in the office chair as he smoked a cigar, blowing the smoke onto the glass window in front of him. He stared down below to see Joey carrying several boxes while wearing a construction hat. Joey quickly managed his way through the front yard and the many Timberwolves in the area, as he disappeared around the corner. The Timberwolf leader smiled as he took a hit from his cigar again.

At that moment, his radio began to pipe up.

_~Hey, Cyrus. You're gonna wanna hear this.~_ said a Timberwolf on the other line.

Cyrus turned around and grabbed the radio, turning his side on. "Go ahead." he gave permission.

_~Uh, you know that kid you sent down to the Arena? The one to fight Lockjaw?~_

"Let me guess. Lockjaw claimed another victim?" Cyrus asked, a smile on his face.

_~Uh, quite the opposite actually. The kid survived.~_

Cyrus grew a confused look but still retained a smile on his face, before turning on his radio once more. "He what?" he asked, slightly bewildered.

_~I mean he 'won', sir. He fought Lockjaw and defeated him. He's such a scrawny lookin' guy as well. I don't know how he managed to beat him.~_

Cyrus smiled. "Send him into my office." he ordered happily.

_~Alright sir, but be warned he's gonna smell.~_

Cyrus chuckled as he placed the radio on his desk; he turned around in his chair and stood up, looking at the compound below him, a smile creeping up on his face.

"So the kid managed to beat Lockjaw…" Cyrus said to himself as his smile grew wider into a toothy grin. "This day just keeps getting better and better."

He took a single hit from his cigar and blew the smoke onto the window.

* * *

The doors to the factory office opened, revealing three figures: Matt and two unnamed Timberwolves beside him. The teen walked inside the office as the two Timberwolves walked back outside the office, closing the doors in the process. Now Matt was all alone with the crazy Timberwolf leader, Cyrus Wolfe; the Timberwolf leader smiled deviously as he sat across Matt, whom took a seat in the chair across from Cyrus' office table.

"Greetings." Cyrus says after a long moment of silence.

"Guten Tag." Matt replies in a dry tone.

"So… a little birdie told me that _you_ defeated Lockjaw." Cyrus says. "That's an impressive feat if you ask me." He suddenly stood up from his chair as he began to walk around. "You know, if we lived in the premodern world today, back when everything was considered 'normal'," he used air quotes. "I would've hired you in an instant if I heard you managed to defeat a pro wrestler, and you're such a scrawny lookin' guy as well… What's your name again?"

"Shithead cunt." Matt sarcastically replies.

"Very catchy. I like it." Cyrus replies as he brought his finger to his chin. "Matilda- Matt Dillon! That's your name! Not shithead cunt. You're a funny guy, kid." Cyrus gives a smile.

Matt merely shrugged as he grew a small smile himself. "I try." he replies.

Cyrus gave a chuckle in response. "Now… Hobbies… Cooking. Painting. Movies. Crystal Meth… What are yours?" he asked.

"I used to hunt." Matt replies.

Cyrus shrugged. "You don't give off a hunter vibe." he says. "But hey, everyone has talents, even if they don't look like what they do. Me… I used to be the football coach of Creighton University. I specialize in bringing out the inner potential of others. That's the beauty of the modern world now. The outbreak brought both the good and the bad out of all of us. It awakened our inner beasts withinside. Before, we were controlled by technology, but now," he chuckled maliciously. "now we're in control… The strong step over the weak. They're the puppets and we're the puppeteers. The world was designed to be that way. That's what it means to be a survivor… So tell me… are you a survivor?"

Matt merely looked at him, giving him an expressionless face before answering. "If I wasn't would you be having this conversation with me?" he asks.

Cyrus cackled out loud. "I like you already, kid!" he shouted in excitement. "Honestly, I do…" Cyrus then walked back to his leather chair and stood behind it, draping his arms over the seat. "Let me ask you: what is the most important thing in society today?"

Matt remained silent as he pondered on the question, before he gave his answer. "Survival?" he questions.

Cyrus shrugged his head. "Close." he says. "It's identity…" He then began to roam around the room once again. "Without identity who the fuck are we, hm? The people you see here? These Timberwolves, I gave them identities. I gave them purpose. I rescued them from the outside world and brought them into my sanctuary. I gave them homes. I gave them life. Before all this, they had no idea who they were. Some were on the verge of suicide before I came down from the heavens and shined my light onto them and showed them the way… to identity."

The Timberwolf leader grew a maliciou smile afterwards.

"Before all of this, we weren't the Timberwolves… We were known as the Buccaneers." he reveals. "Believe it or not, I wasn't the leader when all of this happened. I was actually just a member, doing the grunt work with some others. Then the leader died and then some guy by the name of Tucker replaced him. Now, Tucker was possibly the worst leader in the history of all leaders. He wasn't bad as in the sense of attitude. He was bad as in he wasn't fit to be leader. He made so many mistakes. So many that it'll probably take the rest of this day just to tell, so I'm just gonna oversimplify it for you, okay?" he asked, smiling.

Matt made no movement whatsoever and continued to stare at Cyrus with an empty expression.

"So basically, Tucker was this really, really awful leader." Cyrus began. "After the death of the previous leader, he changed the name of the group, moved locations of the community to a walker infested area, made the community militaristic conformist, started a month long civil war in the community, got shot, broke a literal wall in the community, starved his people, and then he died. On his deathbed, Tucker told one of his men, 'Hey man. Tell whoever my second in command is to not let that jerk Cyrus be the new leader of the community. By the way, who's my second in command.' And his guy replies, 'That would be Cyrus, sir.'" Cyrus was silent for a few moments, before making a noise. "Bleh." he said. "And just like that, he died. Crazy, right?!"

"Exhilarating." Matt sarcastically said in a dry tone.

Cyrus then sat on the edge of his desk, looking down at Matt, all while the same malicious smile was on his face. "So," he said. "after that _I_ became the new leader of the community. My first order of business, move locations. Now, when I joined the Buccaneers, there were over 50 people living in the community, but by the time me and my fellow allies arrived to the place where we currently are, there were only 3 left. Myself, one of my Lieutenants, and a former member of the Timberwolves whom I had to personally kill myself. Along with a few other stragglers that we met along the way, but that's not important. So, afterwards I renamed the community… the Hellhounds!"

Matt gave him a confused expression, genuinely surprised.

"But then I realized that name was stupid so I named it the Timberwolves." Cyrus continues. "Over the course of the months, we gathered more and more people and the more people I brought, the bigger we grew. Now, everyone in this community has _one thing in common_… I saved them all. They were so grateful that I saved them, that they began to worship. Began calling me their 'savior'. Well, needless to say I loved the name. Gave me purpose in life. You see, before I joined the Buccaneers, I had no purpose to live. All I knew was that I didn't want to get taken out by those things. And at the same time, I could never take my own life, because I was too afraid of what death would look like. But after rescuing so many people, people who began calling me their leader, well, that sparked a whole new light in me. I finally realized who I was… I found my identity. The old me died and the new me WAS REBORNED!… And then after a while, after I saved so many people, I realized something else…"

Cyrus' malicious smile grew bigger as he got closer to Matt's face, causing him to back up a bit.

"I realized that I gave those people identities as well." he says. "That's when I realized yet a third time what life's most important thing is. Can you tell me what that is?"

Matt continued to stare up at Cyrus, hesitant to answer; he suddenly looked down to avoid his gaze, before he gave his answer. "Identity." he says.

"Precisely." the Timberwolf leader says as he points at Matt. "You see why identity is so important? Like I said before, without identity who the _fuck_ are we? We're no better than the damn walkers roaming the Earth out there. So, I'm gonna ask you a question and I want you to be honest with me." Cyrus suddenly got real close to Matt's face and smiled deviously at him. "Who. Are. You?" he asked.

Matt was silent for a brief moment, swallowing some saliva down his throat. "Matt Dillon." he answers.

"Nah, I didn't ask for your name. I asked who you are. I asked for your identity." Cyrus clarified. "What makes you 'you'. How can I tell who's who? How can I find you in a crowd? What makes you tick? What brings you joy?... What's your satisfaction?"

For once, Matt didn't have an answer, and his usual stoic expression turned to one of nervousness. He avoided the man's gaze as he looked down, unable to honestly answer the question; Cyrus merely smiled as he chuckled quietly. "You don't know, huh?" he asked. Matt continued to avoid eye contact. "Well… We can't have that as a part of our new Timberwolf member."

Matt's gaze shot up to Cyrus', having an extremely surprised and bewildered look. "What?" he asked.

"Weren't you listening to what Murrdock said down at the Arena?" Cyrus asked. "Whoever survives Lockjaw is an automatic member of the Timberwolves. Not only did you survive him, but you managed to knock him out in two minutes. Two minutes! That's impressive, sport! The last person who managed to knock out Lockjaw knocked him with 10 seconds to spare! That's two minutes and fifty seconds, lad! You have what it takes to not only become a Timberwolf but become _one_ of my head Lieutenants! If you accept this, you'll be the youngest Lieutenant of all in this community."

"If you think I'm gonna join this barbaric community, let alone join an entire group, you're out of your mind. I don't join groups." Matt tells him.

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but… didn't Jericho find you with the boathouse group?" Cyrus asked. Matt remained silent, realizing the contradiction. "So, the fact that you said you don't join groups plus the fact that we found you _WITH_ a group… makes you one dumb dummy doesn't it, kiddo?"

Once again, Matt remained silent as he avoided Cyrus' gaze. "Now, I'm gonna ask you again… Who are you?" he asked. Matt still remained silent; suddenly, Cyrus slammed his fist onto the table, scaring the life out of Matt as the Timberwolf leader got up to his face, glaring at him with extreme anger. "WHO ARE YOU?!" he screamed in rage.

Matt flinched as he backed up, almost falling out of his chair in fear. He usually never got scared easily, let alone from other people, but something about this man just scared Matt to death.

Just as quickly as Cyrus' rage appeared, it just as quickly disappeared as he began to smile once again.

"Scared ya, didn't I?" he asked. He received no answer. "Well, it's quite obvious that you have an identity crisis so… how 'bout I play doctor?" he asked as he smiled once again.

Cyrus turned around to head to his leather chair, leaving Matt utterly confused at what he meant. "I'm s- I'm sor… D- Doctor? Doctor?" he stammered in confusion.

Cyrus sat down in his chair and leaned backwards. "Briggs! Samson!" he called out. At that moment, the two Timberwolf guards standing outside of his office entered the room. "Take him to the Rehabilitation Chamber." he ordered.

"Wait!" Matt exclaimed as both the guards grabbed his arms and lifted him up out of the chair. "The Rehabilitation Chamber? That sounds more menacing than the Arena. I'm- I'm kind of scared now. I'm fairly alarmed! What's going on? What are you doing?!" he shouted as he was dragged out of the office.

Cyrus nonchalantly waved at him as yet another warm smile appeared on his face. "I'll talk to you soon, Dillon. I'll talk to you soon." he says.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Matt shouted in anger. "Get your hands off of me! Ich werde jeden einzelnen von euch Bastarden töten! Ich halte meine Versprechen! (I'll kill every single one of you bastards! I keep my promises!)"

Then, the office doors closed.

* * *

The gates to a bare cell opened as the Timberwolves threw Matt inside the cell, with him landing on his right arm; the teen grunted in pain as he looked up at the two Timberwolves, before he scowled at them.

"Ihr dreckigen Bastarde! Ich werde dich in deinem Schlaf töten! (You filthy bastards! I will kill you in your sleep!)" Matt shouted in German.

He was suddenly punched to the ground by a firm fist by one of the Timberwolves. "You're in no place to make threats, Nazi." the Timberwolf said as he grew a malicious smile. "Let's chain him up to the wall."

"What?!" Matt shouted.

The two Timberwolves suddenly walked inside the cell and dragged the teen towards the wall, where two chains with handcuffs attached were attached to the stone wall. They forced Matt's arms in the air where they handcuffed his wrists onto the chains, successfully trapping him in the cell. The two antagonistic grunts then walked out of the cell as they maliciously sneered at the trapped teen in front of them.

At that very moment, a third Timberwolf came walking from around the corner, holding a tray of food. However, this Timberwolf was different than the usual Timberwolves Matt has seen already. For starters, this Timberwolf was a female. More specifically, a teenaged female that looked to be Filipino. She wore a hoodie with the sleeves rolled up while the hood over her long dark brown hair, a blood red buttoned up shirt underneath, what appeared to be a dark blue jacket wrapped around her waist. She wore a pair of black tight ripped jeans along with a pair of black and white converse sneakers; similar Matt, she had bandages on both of her hands with what appeared to be blood underneath.

The girl approached Matt, wearing a sympathetic expression on her face, as she got in front of him. She suddenly sat down on the ground and placed the tray right in front of him, before looking up to give him an apologetic look. Matt, however, simply glared at her, not trusting her in the slightest.

"How am I supposed to eat if my hands are chained up to the wall?" he asked. The girl said nothing as she grabbed a piece of a baguette and lifted it over Matt's mouth; the male teen continued to glare at the girl in front of him. "How do I know you haven't poisoned this loaf of bread?"

"If Cyrus wanted you dead, he would've done so already." the girl said in a husky voice. "He wouldn't have ordered his men to bring you down to the Rehabilitation Chamber."

"Ahh, so you _do_ speak." Matt says sarcastically. "I was beginning to think I would have a one sided conversation."

"Are you gonna eat or not?" the girl asked, her patience worn thin.

Matt rolled his eyes as he opened his mouth; the girl placed the tip of the bread inside his mouth before he chomped down, chewing the food in his mouth before swallowing.

"Hey, I know you." he suddenly says. "You were with the capturing committee when you took me and the others prisoners. You weren't really ecstatic unlike the others."

"Even now I'm not ecstatic. Name's Camryn, but most people call me Cam." she reveals.

"I used to know a Camryn in my school but everyone called her a whore." Matt said with a shit eating grin. "So tell me, I can tell you're not like the others since you're not constantly yelling at my face. Feel bad for me or are you just bipolar?"

Camryn simply glared at Matt. "I'm not like the rest of those guys." she says. "I don't like hurting others for the sole sake of enjoyment. I happen to value human life."

"Well that's one thing we have in common. I don't kill people for enjoyment as well." says Matt. "So tell me, why aren't you like the others?"

"Because I'm a human being that has emotions and sympathy for other people. Not barbaric like Jericho or Murrdock." Camryn replies as she lifts the piece of bread up to his mouth once again.

"What about Cyrus?" Matt asks as he takes a bite out of the bread.

"Cyrus is… complicated, to say the least." Camryn says.

"The leasht?" Matt asks with his mouth full.

"You had a one on one chat with the guy, right?"

Matt swallowed his food. "Yeah." he confirms.

"Then you can tell he's delusional." Camryn says with slight venom in her voice. "But I have to admit, he's a great leader. He just has… different ways of dealing with situations. Personally, he gives me the creeps."

"Why not just leave?" Matt asks.

Camryn snapped her head back to Matt and gave him a stern look. "You saw what they do to abandoners!" Camryn shouts. "That's the whole reason why you and your friends are here!"

"Hunter is my friend. I only met the other guys." Matt reveals.

"Whatever." Camryn says. "Point is, even if I wanted to, I can't. I'll just get captured again. Believe me, I am tired of this barbaric community with even more barbaric laws and rules. It feels more like a cult than an actual community. If you ask me, everyone here are delusional fucks with no sense of moral or humanity anymore. I feel like I'm the only sane person here."

"Yeah, trust me. I just got back from a fight with a guy who's name is the name of a bacterial disease." Matt replies.

"You survived Lockjaw?" Camryn asks, clearly bewildered. "No one survives Lockjaw without sustaining a few injuries. Lockjaw claimed over 100 victims, all with brutal deaths."

"What's the point in even fighting Lockjaw anyhow?" Matt asked.

"It's complicated, really." Camryn reveals. "It's either a form of execution or a way to become apart of Cyrus' Inner Circle. In fact, that's why you're here."

Matt cocked an eyebrow in response, confused at the previous statement. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Cyrus, for some reason, sees potential in you. I don't know what, but that's just how he works. No one questions him. Anyway, you're here to get 'corrected'," she used air quotes. "so you can be an official member of the Timberwolves."

"What if I don't want to be a member?" Matt asked.

"Unfortunately, people don't have a say in regards to choices in this community." Camryn says.

"So wait, I'm just a member now?! Are you serious?!" Matt shouts in anger.

"Now do you realize why I want to leave?!" Camryn shouts back in anger. "I'm tired of living in this prison! I just want to be somewhere safe with no violence or anything! Just to get away from all the walkers and psychopaths in the woods!"

"Hate to break it to ya, sweetcheeks, but there are always gonna be psychopaths in the woods!" Matt shouted. Camryn pouted as he looked down in anger; Matt sighed apologetically as he looked back at her. "Look, I understand where you're coming from, I really do… I just wanted to be left alone, but now I'm stuck in the middle of all this bullshit. Take it from me, life ain't fair. You just have to work with the hand you've been dealt with."

Camryn remained silent as she continued to look at the stone floor below her; the two were in complete silence before the teenaged girl spoke up again.

"Did you have a rough life? Before all this happened?" she asked.

Matt looked up, hesitant to answer at all, before he actually did. "My parents weren't really nice to me." he says. "I was an orphan in Germany for 8 years before I got adopted and brought back here in America. My home life… well… it wasn't really the best." Camryn remained silent as she listened to the prisoner in front of her. "You see, Matilda Dillon isn't my real name. It's actually Dieter Shröder. My parents changed it when they brought me here. They wanted a girl but I was in an all boy orphanage so I was the unlucky victim. They named me Matilda to at least try and pretend I was a girl. Hell, I even grew out my hair and started painting my nails just to get their appreciation, but they ended up calling me a fag and a transvestite. My dad would frequently beat me while my mom used to lock me in the basement."

Camryn's eyes widened at the sound of the horrific events.

"One day, my dad brought home a small kitten and told me to take care of it." Matt continued. "That was probably the only time I was ever happy in my life. I took care of it for a good month before my dad told me to kill it. I begged him to let me keep it but he threatened he would hurt me and lock me in the basement for the rest of my life… so I was forced to kill my only friend at the age of 10."

Camryn's eyes began to water at this point.

"That was the only time in my life that he said he was proud of me… I miss Whiskers." Matt says as he sniffed, holding back tears.

"What… What happened to them?" she asked.

"Dead. They got killed by the walkers in the early days." Matt says. "I'm glad they did. They deserved to die…"

Matt got suddenly quiet as an extremely angry expression appeared on his face. "FUCKING ASSHOOOOOOOOOOLES!" he shouted in pure rage, slamming his fists onto the concrete wall behind him.

Camryn backed up by Matt's sudden burst of rage, scared at his personality shift; Matt panted as he quickly calmed down, lowering his head as he tightly shut his eyes, his breathing still heavy. The girl in front of him gave him a sympathetic expression as she lifted the piece of bread by his mouth once more. Matt opened his mouth as Camryn placed the bread in it before he took a bite out of the bread, eventually chewing it.

* * *

Joey roamed around the front of the Wolf's Den, holding a pile of supplies as he maneuvered his way through the compound and around some other Timberwolves. A pair of Timberwolves were seen walking towards him, both having sinister expressions on their faces. As they walked passed Joey, the nearest Timberwolf knocked the supplies out of Joey's hands, causing them to fall to the ground.

"Oops." the Timberwolf sarcastically said before chuckling sadistically.

Joey rolled his eyes as he bent down to grab the supplies; as he did, the other Timberwolf kicked Joey to the ground, causing him to grit his teeth in pain. The two Timberwolves suddenly began to laugh at Joey's misfortune as the deaf survivor began to pick himself up. The two Timberwolves turned around to leave only to come face to face with none other than their leader.

Cyrus merely smiled at the men in front of him, which only creeped out the two of them.

"C-Cyrus, sir!" one of the Timberwolves said.

"We didn't see you there, sir." the other one said.

Cyrus continued to smile as he pointed his head towards Joey and the supplies on the ground. "Help this man with his work."

"Y-Yes, sir!" the two Timberwolves exclaimed.

They suddenly turned around and began to help Joey with picking up the supplies, confusing the poor deaf survivor. Joey turned around to see Cyrus looking at him, smiling; the leader then suddenly began to speak sign language to him.

(These men will help you with your work duties. I can give you a translator as well.)

Joey, not knowing how to properly respond, nodded his head as he mouthed the words, "Thank you.". Cyrus nodded his head as he watched Joey walk away with the two Timbewolves, both carrying supplies for the deaf survivor.

Cyrus then suddenly turned his attention to a door on the outside of the factory.

* * *

Matt, having been fed his meal, continued to lie against the cold stone wall with his hands still chained to it. Boredom eventually succumbed as he continued to roll a small rock under the soles of his sneakers, having nothing else to do. At that moment, the sound of a door opening and closing, followed by the sounds of footsteps, were heard in the echoey prison, though Matt paid no attention to it as he continued to roll the rock underneath his right shoe.

Cyrus suddenly came into view, along with a Giovanni Murrdock from the Arena standing beside him as he held a duffel bag in his hand; the two looked at the prisoner in front of them, both having smiles on their faces. "How's our prisoner doing?" Cyrus asked.

"Bored. Can you do me a favor and bring me a paddle ball to play with?" Matt sarcastically replied.

"How about I hit you upside the head with it?" asked Murrdock in a sadistic tone.

Murrdock, unlike Cyrus, wore a more business casual outfit; he wore a black leather suit jacket with a buttoned up shirt underneath, a pair of dark gray jeans with leather boots underneath. His short black hair was covered by a brown fedora.

"Not yet, Murrdock. First we have to cure him of his identity crisis." Cyrus informed.

"Well then by all means, please. It'll alleviate the boredom." Matt sarcastically replied once again.

Cyrus opened the cell as both he and Murrdock entered it before approaching the chained up teen on the wall. Cyrus bent down while Murrdock chose to stand; the Timberwolf leader smiled deviously at Matt.

"You have no idea what you're in for, huh?" Cyrus asked. Matt gave no answer as he continued to sneer at his enemy. "Do you know what motivates people?" Matt continued to glare at him, refusing to answer his question. "Fear." Cyrus answered for him.

"Fear, when combined with self insecurity, becomes a powerful motivator. You can make almost anyone do your bidding. That's how I motivated my star quarterback. You know what I told him before the championships? I told him, 'Eric, if you do not win this game, then you are cut from the team and your family will shun you forever.'" Cyrus slightly chuckled afterwards. "Later that game he made the winning 62 yard touchdown just as the clock turned zero, and just like that, the Bluejays won the championship… It's amazing how easy you can make someone your pawn by just mere words."

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but first you've got to throw 'em!" Matt exclaimed in annoyance.

"Gladly." Murrdock replied.

He suddenly pulled out a knife, surprising Matt as his eyes went wide.

"I said sticks and stones not knives and daggers!" Matt shouted.

"Murrdock here will be spending time with you for a little while. He's going to make you one hell of a Timberwolf soldier." Cyrus says as he smiles deviously at him.

"What if I don't want to?" the teen asked.

"Well that's not up to your decision, now is it?" Cyrus retorted. He suddenly got up and turned around, heading towards the cell's exit. "Do what you're best at Giovanni." Cyrus ordered.

"With pleasure." Murrdock replies.

Cyrus then closed the cell door behind him, leaving only him and Matt alone in the cell. Murrdock dropped the bag he was holding on the ground, as several metallic objects could be heard clanking inside. Matt turned to the bag, wondering what was inside, as Murrdock bent down to unzip it. He opened the bag and reached inside before grabbing an object and pulling it out. Murrdock then revealed that he was holding a drill; turning towards Matt, he shot him a malicious look as a sinister, toothy grin appeared on face.

"You and I, kid," he says, starting the drill for a brief moment. "we're gonna have ahhhhh _hell of a time_!"

Matt stared at Murrdock with wide eyes as fear entered his system; his lower jaw began to slightly tremble as his breathing became heavy and slightly shaky. Murrdock continued to grin maliciously at him as he started up the drill once again.

At that moment, everything muffled around Matt aside from his fast beating heartbeat and the sound of his shaky breathing. He immediately knew what was coming.

Murrdock stabbed the drill into Matt's thigh, unleashing a horrific scream of agonizing pain from the teen.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Matt screamed in excruciating pain.

Murrdock continued to drill inside Matt's left thigh as he grinned sadistically at him, clearly enjoying Matt's pain and suffering. Matt continued to scream as tears began to drip down his eyes as he began to sob loudly in between his screams.

"OH MEIN GOTT! HOLY SHIT! OH, YOU FUCKER! YOU FUCKER!" Matt shouted as his hands gripped the shackles he was chained with.

Matt began to slam his fists into the wall as his legs viciously kicked in the air as his screams echoed in the underground prison. That's all he could do was scream, and scream, and scream, wishing that the moment would just end. Unfortunately for him… Murrdock was just beginning.

"Who are you?!" Murrdock shouted.

"AAAAAAAAAHHH!" Matt continued to scream.

"Last I checked there's no one named 'AAAAAAH'"

Murrdock continued to drill into Matt's thigh as blood gushed everywhere, like a geyser, as the floor, Matt's pants, and Murrdock's hands along with the drill were stained with blood. Eventually, Murrdock seized the drilling as he pulled the drill out of Matt's thigh, much, _MUCH_ to his release. Matt panted as well as sobbed as tears ran down his cheek.

"P-Ple-ease." Matt begged in between his sobs. "You ffffffucking… cuunt." Matt hissed out in rage and pain.

"Tell me who you are." Murrdock demanded.

Matt continued to pant heavily. "You're ffffffucking MOTHER!" he shouted.

"Wrong answer!"

Murrdock stabbed Matt's other thigh with the drill, causing him to scream in horrific pain once again.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Matt screamed once again.

As quickly as Murrdock stabbed Matt in the thigh, he just as quickly retracted the drill away from it. "Who are you?!" he asked again.

"FUCK YOU!" Matt shouted. Murrdock continued to glare at Matt while the teen himself continued to sob quietly and pant heavily. "I c- can't feel my legs… I'm gonna die."

"You're not gonna die." Murrdock reassured as he placed the drill in the bag. "I made sure not to hit any major arteries in there. After all, I was a surgeon before all this. I know every major artery in the human body by heart. Besides… you dying would just kill the fun." Matt gritted his teeth as he glared daggers at his torturer in front of him. "Oh, and before you ask… No, you're not gonna be a parapalegic."

Matt paid no attention to him as he continued to pant heavily in pain, trying to at least sooth it but to no avail. His hand was suddenly grabbed by Murrdock as he grabbed his index finger, startling him.

"Now, I'm gonna ask again… Who are you?"

"Just end my pain already." Matt whispered in tiredness.

"Awww, that wouldn't be fun, now would it. But you know what _is_ fun?" Murrdock asked; Matt looked up and gave him a dead expression. Murrdock shot him a sadistic grin. "This."

Murrdock suddenly bent Matt's index finger the opposite way, completely breaking. Matt screamed yet again in horrific pain as he began to violently shake his hands in extreme pain.

"I can keep doing this all day, and because I know what's fatal and nonfatal the only think you'll be feeling is pain!" Murrdock exclaimed in excitement. "I will keep doing this until you successfully answer my question! Everyone that I have done this to either eventually die or finally gives me the answer that I want, and let me tell you, I've only lost one patient!"

"That's nice." Matt said in pain before he gave Murrdock a look of insanity. "Was it your mother?!" Murrdock suddenly broke Matt's middle finger, causing him to groan in pain as his nails dug into his palms. "That's fine! I have my other middle finger to flip you off with once I'm out of these shackles and finish decimating your brain!"

"Big words from such a scrawny lookin' guy in chains." Murrdock retorted.

Matt continued to pant heavily for a while before he lifted his to look at his enemy straight in the eyes. "When I get out of these chains, and I will… You're gonna regret ever laying a finger on me."

Murrdock responded by grabbing Matt's left ring finger, while the teen himself braced for the excruciating pain he was about to feel. However, Murrdock suddenly retracted his hand away from Matt's finger, confusing the teen yet relieving him.

"I'm getting tired of breaking your fingers." Murrdock says.

"What? You gonna break my toes?" Matt chuckled to hide the pain he was in.

"Nah." Murrdock says as he reaches into his bag. He suddenly pulled out a blowtorch, briefly firing it up for a second. "I have something else in mind."

Matt chuckled once again to keep his tough guy persona. "Gee. The fun just keeps getting better." he sarcastically said.

Murrdock shot him a sinister, toothy grin. "Indeed it does." he agrees.

He hovered the blowtorch over Matt's left cheek and fired it up, immediately burning the flesh off of Matt's cheek. He screamed in terrifying pain as his whole body shook violently. His screams echoed in the prison as the cell lights flickered above the two with each passing second.

* * *

Hunter slumped against the wall of the prison cell he was in, having an expression mixed of tiredness and boredom. Next to him was Joe, shouting at a Timberwolf guard in front of their cell.

"Please! You have to let me go! I'm the only one who can understand Joey!" Joe pleaded.

"I have orders from Cyrus himself to guard you two until further notice." the guard replied. "Besides, Cyrus wouldn't have put your friend to work if he didn't have some sort of plan with him. I'm sure he's in safe hands along with a translator to help him communicate."

"What about the other guy?" Hunter suddenly asked.

"Hmm?" the guard questioned as he turned around. "Who? That scrawny, small kid? Chances are he's dead."

Hunter suddenly gasped as his eyes went as wide as dinner plates. "No! You're wrong! He can't be dead!" Hunter shouted. "He's the toughest survivor I ever met! He's cheated death more times than I can count! He's strong! He's resourceful! He's unkillable! He said that the only person who can ever kill him is himself and that he's gonna make sure that he's gonna keep it that way!"

The Timberwolf smirked sadistically at Hunter. "Well it looks like your friend couldn't keep his promise." he says. "He was sent down to the Arena to fight our strongest warrior ever by Cyrus himself. No one who fights Lockjaw ever survives."

"Then I guess you mustn't have heard." said a voice in a slight British accent.

The Timberwolf turned around to the opposite side of the room, looking directly at a prison cell parallel to Hunter and Joe's own cell. Inside was a young man that looked to be in his mid 20's, slumped up against the wall as he crossed his arms, his head was hanging low as his eyes were closed. He wore a gray long sleeve shirt with a black vest with a hood over it, a pair of navy blue cargo pants and black leather boots; he had short spiky black hair combed upwards while the sides were slightly shaven and shorter than the top of his hair.

"The kid survived." the man said.

"What are you babbling about?" the Timberwolf asked.

"That new kid you guys brought in, while it's true Cyrus sent him to the Arena to fight Lockjaw, he actually managed to survive without a single scratch on him. At least, that's what I heard anyway." the man replied.

"That's impossible! How can a scrawny guy like him fight a big, muscular dude like Lockjaw?"

"There used to be an old saying: 'Size doesn't matter.' Looks like that kid proved that saying correct, now didn't he?"

The Timberwolf was at a loss for words as he immediately clamped his mouth shut, unable to think of anything to say.

"You! What's your name?!" Hunter demanded.

"Shut it!" the Timberwolf viciously ordered.

"During my time here in the Wolf's Den, I've been called many names. Prisoner. Asshole. Slave. But…" he suddenly looked up and opened his eyes, revealing them to be different colors. His left eye was green while the right one was blue. "…you can just call me Bay Domino."

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Matt's screams echoed in the prison.

Matt violently squirmed in his shackles as Murrdock continued to burn his cheek with the blowtorch, all with a sadistic smile on his face. Finally, Murrdock turned off the blowtorch as he retracted it from his victim's cheek, all while Matt continued squirm in pain as his teeth were tightly gritted, hissing through them. His right hand tightly curled up as his fingernails dug into his palms, letting out some blood; Matt panted as he hung his head low.

"Cyrus… is a god amongst us." Murrdock explains. "He saved all of us when we were at our lowest point of our lives. He helped us regain our humanity. He helped us find our identity. For that, I would _die_ in order to save him." Matt continued to pant as he felt his whole body go weak and heavy.

"Before all of this, I used to be a surgeon. The best damn one in the country. However, I found no joy in saving people's lives. Noooo… I found joy… buy taking them. People would literally put their lives on the table, just for me to save them… It was disgusting. Why should you depend on others to save you when you are already dying. It makes no sense. You're just prolonging the inevitable. So… I changed that. Once my patients were out that door, I made sure they wouldn't last a week in the outside world, just to teach them a lesson on depending on others. And sure enough, a week later…" Murrdock got really close to Matt's ear and whispered, "They… died."

Matt's eyes widened as his breathing continued to be heavy and shaky.

"Humans are so weak. They're so pathetic. They let emotions get in the way of their potential. They could be so much more yet they stop themselves for mere emotions. Sympathy. Passion. Love… Integrity." Murrdock continued to rant.

"Then why do you host the Arena with such an announcing voice?" Matt asked, pain in his voice.

"Because I love when my victims die, even though Lockjaw does all the killing." Murrdock replied, insanity in his voice. "Just seeing their faces as death stares down above them. Seeing their helpless acts of to save their pathetic lives, thinking they survive the ordeal… It's quite honestly the most hilarious thing I can ever watch over and over and over again, until the day I die… That life… is worth living for."

At that moment, Matt started chuckling himself, slightly confusing Murrdock. "Let me guess." Matt begins. "This is the part where I say, 'You're sick in the head. You need help.' Buddy, let me tell you… I've met a lot of people like you in my life and they all have the same ending. They die without a happy ending. Both physically and mentally. I guarantee you won't make it to the end of this week, because at the end of it, someone is gonna want you dead, and they'll accomplish that promise. So do your worse… I know you're not gonna kill me, otherwise your so called leader wouldn't have said, and I quote, 'He's going to make you one hell of a Timberwolf soldier.' There's no intention of killing in that sentence."

"My my. You must be one of my smartest patients yet…" Murrdock suddenly grew a horrifically large sadistic grin. "I love that."

Matt gave him a lifeless, almost annoyed expression. "Will you shut up and get on with the torture?" he asked in annoyance.

"Eagered to get tortured now, are we?" Murrdock asked.

"Nah." Matt replies in a heavy breathe as he leans his head against the wall behind him. "I just hate your voice."

Murrdock smirked as he reached inside his bag and grabbed an unknown object. He lifted his hand out of said bag, revealing he had a pair of pliers in his hands. The sadistic former surgeon turned his head towards his victim and smiled deviously at him, while Matt's breathing became shaky once again.

Murrdock suddenly shot his hand towards Matt's mouth and quickly gripped one of his top molars with the pliers. Almost immediately, Murrdock began to forcefully pull the molar right out of Matt's gums as he began to scream in immense pain. The former surgeon now Timberwolf continued to tug on Matt's molar as all he could do was just scream in agonizing pain.

Eventually, Murrdock used all of his strength and ripped the tooth right out of Matt's gum as they started to bleed. Matt sobbed as he hissed in pain, tasting nothing but blood on his tongue. Murrdock started examining Matt's recently pulled out molar, growing an exaggerated disappointed look.

"Matt." he says, only to receive a groan from him. "Matt, you haven't been flossing, huh?"

"Do you know how difficult it is to find food in the apocalypse let alone floss?" Matt asked in a painful tone.

"That's really bad, you know that right?"

"I can't feel my gums."

Murrdock shook his head in actual disappointment as he rolled his eyes at the same time. He suddenly got up and approached his bag, where he pulled out a jar of teeth, no doubt from his previous victims. He opened it and quickly placed Matt's tooth inside before closing it again. He placed the jar back in the bag as he pulled out two more objects: a rag and a small can of gasoline.

Matt's attention turned to the newly revealed objects, immediately knowing what they were meant for.

"You know it's called _water_boarding for a reason." he says. "It's not called gasboarding."

"I like to mix it up a notch sometimes." Murrdock replies.

"Hey, Doc, I'm feeling really tired. Am I losing too much blood?" Matt asked, genuinely worried.

"Possibly." Murrdock says. "You may have some internal bleeding, you may not. I don't know. Point is, I made sure to not deal lethal blows to you so you should be fine."

"_Should be_ is the story of my life, asshole."

Murrdock chuckled. "Well then…" Murrdock suddenly places the rag over Matt's face. "This _should be_ fun… For me at least."

Murrdock then lowered the can of gasoline over Matt's face which was covered in the rag. Gasoline began to pour out of the small can is it immediately soaked the rag, forcing Matt to hold his breath so no gasoline would get in his body. As Matt was getting waterboard, he began to violently shake his head so he could breathe again. Unfortunately for him, some gas got in his throat, causing him to gag on it and spit some out.

Murrdock continued to waterboard Matt, watching him squirm in place he could do nothing but just sit there and let it happen, thanks to his legs being injured. Eventually, the small can of gasoline was finally emptied as the last drops of gas dripped out of the can. However, the wet rag still stopped Matt from breathing; eventually, after watching Matt struggle, Murrdock grabbed the rag off of Matt's face. Upon removal, Matt gasped for air before he began to violently cough, probably from inhaling the gas and chemicals upon gasping.

Suddenly, Matt hurled forward as he began to vomit everywhere, causing Murrdock to back away. Vomit got all over the floor as Matt threw up for a solid 20 seconds, before he began panting.

"That's the second time I threw up today." he said in a heavy, husky breathe.

"It's also the second time I became happy today." Murrdock replies. "Just something about seeing other people in pain brings a smile on my face. Like with my patients." Matt groaned in response; Murrdock suddenly stood up and looked down at the beaten kid in front of him. "Well, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to cut our meeting short. I'll be sure to patch up your wounds so no infections get in there and I'll leave the rest up to Cyrus. Sound good?"

Matt only groaned.

"Good." Murrdock says. He then grabbed his radio and turned it on. "Hey, Cyrus. I'm done down here. You can take over, alright?"

With that, he hung up as he grabbed some bandages from his bag; Matt groaned as he opened his eyes to see Murrdock holding some of the bandages he just grabbed out of the bag.

"Take off your pants." he orders.

Matt shot him a disgusted look. "First you torture me now you're gonna rape me. What are you? My father?" Matt asked.

"No! I'm gonna bandage your leg wounds and I can't with those pants on." Murrdock explained.

"Oh." Matt replies.

Murrdock suddenly grew a look, realizing what Matt just said. "Wait, your father?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"Just take off my pants. I can't do it with these shackles on." Matt explains.

Murrdock rolled his eyes as he bent down, grabbing the waist of Matt's brown cargo pants and unbuckled and unzipped them. "Lift up." he says.

Matt obliges and lifts his bottom in the air a little; Murrdock then began to pull the pants off of Matt, revealing his boxers underneath, with holes in the thighs. He then rolled up the ends of the boxers up to Matt's crotch, causing him to hiss in pain as Murrdock revealed the drill wounds in Matt's thighs.

At that moment, the sound of a door opening and closing could be heard as well as footsteps. Suddenly, Camryn appeared around the corner and turned to Matt's cell. However, she immediately looked away at the sight of Murrdock taking off Matt's pants.

"Oh." she says in a disturbed manner.

Both Matt and Murrdock turned their heads to her as she covers her eyes. "Relax. I'm just patching up his wounds." Murrdock explains.

"Um, Cyrus wants you to check up on Jericho. He's in the infirmary right now." Camryn explains.

"You think you can keep him company?" Murrdock asked, pointing to Matt.

"I can't. I got orders from Cyrus himself to feed the new prisoners." Camryn replies.

"Ah. Alright. I'm almost done with him anyway." Murrdock says as he continues bandaging Matt up.

Camryn peered her head a little to the side to get a better look at Matt. "Does it hurt?" she asked.

"It hurts like hell." Matt said, somewhat lisped thanks to his missing tooth. Matt did nothing but smile, revealing his missing molar. "Look on the bright. I get five bucks from the tooth fairy if I get a pillow." Matt tries to chuckle but ends up coughing up blood.

Camryn looked away in disgust, feeling sorry for the poor kid. She made a final sigh as she suddenly walked away, going to do her orders that Cyrus gave her.

Murrdock eventually finished patching up Matt's thighs, before giving him a smile.

"Now just sit here and wait for Cyrus to arrive. You can do that, right?" Murrdock asked in a soft tone.

"Go to hell, Murrdock." Matt replies.

Murrdock chuckled a bit as he got up and turned around; he headed towards the cell door and exited it, locking it before he eventually began walking away. The sound of a door opening and closing could be heard, leaving Matt all alone in the empty basement turned torture chamber of the factory.

Matt looked up to see his two dislocated fingers that Murrdock broke; with his other hand, he suddenly grabbed his two fingers and immediately bent them back into place, the sounds of the bones cracking very audible in the cell. Matt hissed in pain before he let go of his fingers, which were now back in place and fully healed, though a little sore.

Now all Matt had to do was just wait. Wait until Cyrus would come down to "talk" to him.

* * *

Hunter and Joe continued to slump against the wall in their cell, not having anything better to do. Across from them, Domino was also slumped against the wall, though having a more nonchalant expression than his fellow prisonmates. The Timberwolf guard in front of Hunter and Joe's cell had a bored expression as he yawned, clearly tired of guarding the two prisoners behind him.

At that moment, the sound of a door opening and then closing could be heard, grabbing the attention of the Timberwolf guard. He turned his head to the right to see Camryn walking towards him.

"Cyrus wants me to take over for a while so I can feed the prisoners and patch up any minor wounds." Camryn explained. "Murrdock is finished torturing the kid downstairs so he can handle the major wounds. Though I doubt these guys have any major wounds at all. You can leave, Chuck."

"That names Charlie." the Timberwolf corrected, sneering at the teenaged girl as he walked passed her.

"Yeah, whatever." Camryn says in a slightly aggressive tone.

She watched as the guard left, leaving her the only Timberwolf member in the entire cell room. As soon as the door closed, Camryn bent down and placed a tray inside the cell.

"Eat up." she says in a soft tone. "You're gonna need your strength when you're put into manual labor tomorrow."

"What is this? The Gulag?" Joe asked.

"Both surprisingly _and_ unsurprisingly, that's exactly what Cyrus named this place: the Gulag."

"Of cooooourse. Cuz why else would some megalomaniac call this place after an infamous war camp during the Cold War?" Hunter sarcastically asked, throwing his hand in the air.

"Actually, it was, uh, during both World War 2, surpassed it, and ended in the middle of the Cold War. It was mostly used during the Soviet Union Era constructed by Vladimir Lenin that reached it's peak up until Joseph Stalin's rule." Joe corrected. Hunter turned to him and gave him an annoyed expression. "I was a History professor before all this." Joe explained.

Hunter simply nodded his head in response. "Cool. I was a ghost hunter." Hunter says.

"I know. I watched your show." Joe responded.

Hunter grew a smile as he turned to Camryn. "You hear that? He used to watch my show." he said in an ecstatic manner.

"What show?" Domino asked from the other side.

"ARGGH! Academy of Really Good Ghost Hunting." Hunter explained.

"Sounds stupid." Domino nonchalantly insulted.

Hunter pouted as he crossed his arms like a little child, turning his face the other way so no one could see his face. "You're stupid." he mumbled.

"Is that kid downstairs your friend?" Camryn suddenly asked.

Hunter turned to her. "Does he have long hair? A bandage around his left hand? A star tattoo on his right wrists underneath his bracelets? Short temper and very sarcastic?" he asked.

"Yeah?" Camryn questioned.

"Yeah, he's my friend." he says, nodding. "He's the one that rescued me from a near death situation, then I rescued him shortly afterwards." His eyes suddenly widened in realization. "Wait, you said the kid downstairs was getting tortured…"

Camryn suddenly looked down, avoiding any eye contact with the former ghost hunter. However, said former ghost hunter quickly got up close and personal with her as he slammed his face in the bars, tightly gripping the bars with his hands.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?!" Hunter demanded as tears began to well up in his eyes.

"Murrdock is patching him up." Camryn answered. "But he didn't look alright to be honest. There were some holes in his thighs, a burn mark on his cheek, two of his fingers were broken, and I'm pretty sure he was missing a tooth. Not to mention he smelled like gasoline and telling how there was a wet rag beside him as well as a small can of gas, you can guess what Murrdock did to him."

Hunter suddenly grew a defeated look as he fell to the ground, quietly crying to himself. "Goddamnit." he sobbed. "I want out of here! I want the kid to be okay! He's all I got left in this world! He's my best friend! He's saved my ass multiple times!"

"I want to get out of here too, Hunter, but you saw what happens to people who abandon the group." Camryn replies. "They get hunted down until they get captured. You'll just end up back here in an even worse situation… Besides, the kid looked strong. He was making jokes when I got there."

"He uses dark humor to hide his pain. It's a coping method of his. Kind of ties in with his sarcastic personality." Hunter explains.

"Sounds kind of badass." Camryn says.

"Don't let him hear you say that. It'll fuel his ego." Hunter says.

"I've only known him for a while and I can already tell he has a big ego." Joe reveals.

"You have no idea how badly I want out of here." Hunter begs.

"Trust me. I know. You and everyone else in this room, including me. I may be a Timberwolf but… I'm not a Timberwolf at heart." Camryn says.

"I might know a way." Domino suddenly speaks up behind them. The three turned around to look at Domino, whom was smiling mischievously at them. "Factories like these were used to build destructive weapons. Guns, explosives, all that sort. By law, the government forced the factories have downstair basements, which we're in right now. In those basements were emergency exits used for when the factory needed to be cleared immediately. There were emergency exits built down in the basements in case workers were either trapped down there or didn't have enough time to get to the actual basements. When Cyrus took over, he had a Timberwolf block all the exits and hide them. If we could find one of the exits, we could escape through there and we'll be out of this place within a good, hmm, 10 minutes, maybe less."

Hunter turned to Joe, who in return turned to Hunter, before they turned to Camryn, whom merely shrugged. Hunter turned his attention back to Domino. "How do you know about the exits?" he asked.

Domino grew an even bigger mischievous smile. "Because I was the one who blocked them." he answered, smiling.

* * *

Matt continued to slump against the cold stone wall he was sitting up against while his arms were shackled with handcuffs attached to the wall. He sighed heavily through his nose as his eyes were soothly shut; underneath his pants and boxers were bandages wrapped around his thighs to prevent the bleeding, while his cheek was also patched up. His fingers were still sore from when he fixed his fingers back in place.

At that moment, the sounds of the metal doors opening and closing, followed by the sounds of footsteps, were heard in the echoey torture room. Matt suddenly lifted his head up in a slow manner as a figure stepped into his peripheral vision. That figure was none other than Cyrus Wolfe, whom maliciously smiled down at the teen in front of him.

"How was Murrdock?" Cyrus asked.

"Heeeeey, Cyrus." Matt said in an unusually happy tone. "I have a complaint. Your guy is _kind of_ an asshole. Not to mention no meal, no welcome. I gotta rate this place 1 out of 5 star. Sorry bud."

Cyrus chuckled as he opened up the cell. "I see you still retained your sense of humor." he says.

"It's called sarcasm, dipshit." Matt responds in a hostile manner.

Cyrus bent down and smiled at Matt. "I like that. You're fierce. You don't take anything from anyone. You do what you like to do, not caring if anyone judges you or not. Use that to your advantage kid and I promise you'll make it big in this world…" Matt simply stared at Cyrus for a moment.

"_WHICH_ is something I _would_ say back in the pre-modern world." Cyrus corrects. "You see, nowadays, you _have_ to judge people. You have to judge them whether or not they're allies or enemies. You need to figure out what's going on in their head, what their intentions are, and you, and _only_ you… can decide whether or not you can trust them or not. But be warned, you make one false move…" Cyrus then hovered his finger his throat and panned it to the side, acting as if he was cutting his own throat. "…and you're dead."

"That's really interesting. Too bad I didn't ask for your opinion." Matt sarcastically replied.

"It's not an opinion, it's a fa-"

"Ding dong. Your opinion is wrong." Matt interrupts in a smart ass tone.

Cyrus gave him a dry look as he stood up, looking down at the shackled teen in front of him. "Tell me… Were you always this sarcastic and jerkish in the postmodern world?" he asked.

"Eh," Matt says as he shrugged. "I was kind of a dick back then. Still am to be honest. I'm just an asshole that'll tell it the way it is. The truth hurts sometimes."

"I can tell you're an intelligent kid." Cyrus says. "You obviously know your place in the world and you're tough enough to deal with any situation given to you either by force or accidental, and at such a young age too."

"I think I'm 17. I'm not sure." Matt responds.

"Still young compared to me."

"How old _are_ you, anyway?"

"38." Cryus answers. Matt merely blinks in response with an expressionless face. "Point is you know what's going on and how to deal with what's going on. Not a lot of people are like that these days. You have no idea how many ignorant optimists I've met during the outbreak. Always spewing on how this will all eventually end. Let me tell you a secret: it won't. People now are more resourceful now than they ever were. In the end, we can't change the world. We can only adapt to it. Evolve. Learn how to live in the new world. Evolution has taken it's course on the world and now it's mankind's turn to evolve. It's a survival of the fittest out there… are you fit to live in this world?"

"Like I said before, I'm still alive." Matt responds.

"But for how long?" Cyrus asked as he began walking around the cell. "Sooner or later, your luck will run out. Sooner or later, your past will find you. All your mistakes will haunt you till the end of days. You don't even know who you are. How can you accomplish anything without an identity? There's more to an identity than a name, you know that, don't you."

"Of course I know." Matt says. He suddenly looks down. "I just don't know who I am. I'm very difficult to describe. I'm not just some plushie you can pick out in a rigged claw game, you know?"

"Oh, I understand… How about I help you find your identity?" Cyrus asks, growing a malicious smile.

"I'd rather stick my hand in a waffle iron." Matt says in a deadpan tone.

"Do you know what every Timberwolf here in the Wolf's Den have in common?" Cyrus asks as he begins pacing back and forth.

"They're all psychotic, have custom made weapons, and have bad breath?" Matt guesses in an enthusiastic manner.

"They all have a _single_ identity!"

"Let me guess… a Timberwolf." Matt replies, rolling his eyes.

"Close." Cyrus says. He then bent down to Matt's eye level and grinned at him in a devilish way. "They're all Cyrus."

Now Matt grew a confused, yet slightly terrified, look. "What do you mean?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"In this world, you _have_ to be me in order to survive." Cyrus says. "I'm a God amongst these people! I've saved their lives! I've given them identities! THEY HAVE BEEN REBORN INTO ONE PURE BEING! ME! CYRUS WOLFE!" Cyrus shouts at the top of his lungs, raisings his arms into the air. Matt stared at him with a horrified expression.

"We are Cyrus and we are alive!" Cyrus says. "_That_ is the motto of the Timberwolves! We live by that motto! We _DIE_ by that motto. Because we! Are! That! MOTTO! We are Cyrus! We are one! We are alive!"

"More like you're all crazy!" Matt shouts. "You've gone full megalomaniac, dude! You're insane if you think you're a pure being and a God amongst those psychopaths! I just came out of a deathmatch with some buff dude and everyone was all cheering for him to kill me! Why would anyone want to be like you let alone me?!"

"Because unlike you, I have the potential to survive in this world. I know what needs to be done and I have what it takes in order to do what is necessary." Cyrus answers. "If you don't have what it takes, unfortunately for you, you won't last long in this world. So…" Cyrus got close to Matt's face. "…are you willing to find out what your identity is?"

"Go. To. Hell." Matt responds. "I'm not gonna sit here and listen to some crazed lunatic."

"But it seems you don't have a choice. You're chained up to the wall with no place to go. You might as well listen. Besides… it might be good for you." Cyrus says as he grows a malicious smile.

"I highly doubt it." Matt growled.

Cyrus continued to smile deviously at him. "Where were you when it all happened?" he suddenly asked. Matt refused to answer as he avoided eye contact. "Were you alone?... Were you in the safety of others? Friends? Military?... Family?"

Matt gave a subtle reaction as his eyes widened a few millimeters, though it went noticed by Cyrus, indicated by the increase growth of his smile.

"Did your parents survive?" he asked. Matt still refused to answer. "Aaaah… So they died, didn't they? Did they die a slow and painful death? Did you weep? Did you cry?... Or did you not simply care at all?"

Matt continued with his silence.

"I bet they died a slow and painful death, didn't they?" he asked, his malicious grin not going anywhere. "But you don't care. Do you? Bet you were exhilarated when they died in front of you. They weren't the nicest of parents to you, were they?" Matt balled up his hands as his eyebrows got closer to his eyes. "Maybe it's not your parents' deaths that's haunting you every waking moment of the day and every unconscious moment of the night… Maybe it's something else? Or _someone_ else? Girlfriend? Pet? Best friend?"

Matt gave no reaction to either of those answers, aside from squinting his eyes upon hearing the word "pet".

"Perhaps none of the above? Maybe it's someone you didn't even know. Maybe… it's a whole lot of someone. Many, many people you were forced to kill for survival? For stupid reasons at that as well?"

Matt gritted his teeth inside his mouth, losing more and more of his composure by the second of Cyrus' mental torment.

Cyrus suddenly got up close to Matt's right ear and whispered, "How many people did you kill?" Matt's eyes widened as he gasped a little. "To think, all those people you killed. People you didn't even know. You weren't a killer before all this happened. No. You were just a misunderstood kid with a terrible childhood, if you could call it a childhood… Tell me about the first time you were forced to take someone's life away."

Matt's eyes suddenly widened as vision blurred while his hearing muffled; upon him was a PTSD flashback, going back all the way to the early days of the outbreak. Back when Matt was in the military bunker with a bunch of survivors, and a crazed redneck with the shotgun. The redneck's screams echoed in Matt's ears as he saw himself get up from his spot and unleash a vicious assault on the redneck, bashing his head in with a metal pipe.

He was suddenly brought back into reality as he gasped for air, not realizing he was holding his breath during the PTSD flashback. Cyrus beside him continued to smirk as he watched his prisoner go through a mental torment attack.

"You never forget your first kill." he says. "When you were forced to murder that survivor, you felt like you made a sin. Like you just spat in the face of God. You were so horrified at what you've done. You didn't even think you had it in you. It's like seeing your best friend murder your dog in front of your eyes, you just can't understand why he did it. Except it's you. You don't understand why you did it. You can't even believe what you've done. You start denying the facts, trying to make yourself feel better. But alas… the moment is imprinted in your mind, never to be erased."

Matt's breath continued to be shaky and heavy as his pupils shrunk, shaking violently inside his eye sockets.

"That moment, along with various other horrific moments, haunt you for the rest of your life. Never leaving your side… But it's not just that one person, now is it?" he asks. Matt continued to breathe heavily and shakily. "It's many, MANY others. You've taken more lives than you can count… You know what the worst part is?... The fact that you're here and they're not says a lot about you. You were forced to kill when you didn't want. Having _all_ those souls, screaming at your own soul, it's agonizing. You can't escape it. You can feel the darkness taking over. All that grief, all that regret, only for you to continue living…"

Cyrus then got close to Matt's ear once more. "You just can't escape from your sins. You can't escape from yourself. No matter how far you run. No matter how hard you try. Your nightmares will just keep on returning."

Matt gasped as he eyes shot wide open, his pupils shrunk once more.

"You and I are not so different." he says. "We were hardened by our childhoods both forced to kill. You: a random survivor. Me:… my wife."

Matt suddenly looked up, intrigued by the mention of his wife.

"She was a lovely wife indeed. No doubt about it." Cyrus began. "Beautiful golden hair that shined brighter than a thousand suns." He then sighed heavily. "She and our daughter were everything I could ask for. Unfortunately, fate had other plans. As we were escaping from the walkers from a motel we held out in along with some other survivors, my wife and daughter, Melissa, were bitten by those damn monsters. I didn't want them to turn into one of them so… I killed them. Slit their throats… Only did I realize months later that you have to destroy the brain in order to kill them. So, obviously, they turned, and I had no idea. They could still be walkers or they could've been killed by some other people. Point is… I lost my life and my identity… kind of how you lost yours."

"I'm not like you… you're insane." Matt retorts.

Cyrus smacked Matt's head lightly as he leaned up against the wall beside him. "We're completely the same, you and I. In fact, we're more than just the same." Cyrus then bent down and carefully caressed Matt's chin as he lead his attention towards his face. "We're the same person." Matt gave him an extremely confused expression. "You are me, and I am you."

"We're not the same." Matt says.

"We are. _More_ than you know." Cyrus replies. "You can't escape your past, Matt. No matter how much you run, you can never escape your worst nightmares. Seeing all those souls that you took, the bloody, violent battles that you participated."

Matt's eyes widened at Cyrus' spot on guess. "You're surprised, aren't ya?" Cyrus taunts. "It's written all over your face. I can tell who's a fighter, and you… are severely traumatized. Haunted by your vicious battles that you can't escape. Seeing everyone around you die while you're one of the few survivors. It makes you wonder if you're really the lucky one to survive, because the dead doesn't have to carry all the burden, all the nightmares, all the atrocities on their shoulders everywhere you go. Tell me… how many people have you killed?"

Matt stared at Cyrus with a horrified, traumatized expression before looking down. "I've lost count." he says above a heavy whisper. "I've killed so many that I don't even know when or how it happened. It never wanted it to happen. I never wanted to kill those people… but I had no choice… I had no choice… I had no choice."

"You're scared, I can tell. But what I can't tell is… what exactly are you afraid of?" Cyrus asks.

Matt's stares blankly at the ground in front of him, the same traumatized look on his face. "I'm afraid one day when I look in the mirror… I won't recognize who I am."

"That's why I'm here, Matt." Cyrus whispers. "I'm here to help you. I'm here to give you an identity. We're all the same here in the Timberwolves. Survivors just looking to survive. Sure we're all 'Cyrus', but deep down they all have their individualities. Things that make them _them_. But you, heh, you… you really are me. You are Cyrus, and I am _you_. We're the same, Matt. Don't fight the truth. Let it consume you, let the truth seep into your soul."

Matt continued to stare blankly at the floor, still retaining the traumatized expression. "I don't know… what… anything… is." Matt says in a heavy breath. "What is reality? Is it a figment of our imagination. Is it a simulation created by something so big and powerful that it doesn't even take a shape or form? I don't understand. Why are we in the timeline where the apocalypse happens. Truly this isn't reality but for some reason I can't tell if it _is_ or _isn't_… Are the walkers real? Are you real?... Am I real?"

"You're broken, Matt."

"I'm scared."

"But I can fix you."

"How?"

"By giving you want you desperately need…"

"An identity." they both said at the same time.

"Yes." Cyrus says. "Tell me, Matt, how long have you been suffering?"

Matt's lower jaw began to tremble as he suddenly grew a hateful expression; turning to Cyrus while glaring at him, he said, "I've been suffering my whole life. My parents did not care for me. My dad forced me to kill my pet! My only friend WAS A DAMN KITTEN AND HE MADE ME KILL IT! I've been suffering by their hands my whole life! When they got killed by the walkers, I felt free! I felt like I wasn't constricted by chains, but look at me now! I'M CONSTRICTED BY CHAINS! NOTHING HAS CHAAAAANGED!"

Matt began to violently shake his body as Cyrus backed up, letting Matt continue on with his rage.

"I felt happy when they died! I felt relieved! But when I was in that military bunker and that guy started killing everyone, all I saw was my dad! I killed him thinking it would bring my satisfaction, but nooooo. I was horrified at what I done. I couldn't believe that I just took another man's life! So I ran and ran and RAN! I've been five groups already! Groups that were violent, filled with psychopaths with no remorse, and ASSHOLES!

The first group I was in, I had to line up a bunch of children. Ages 5-10, mind you! I lined them up against the church wall and was forced to cut off all their hands and tongues. THEN I was forced to hang them all from the church's tree, watching as they turned into walkers! I murdered children! I turned them into WALKERS!

Then the second group I was with, the leader killed everyone, people I actually connected with, just because they didn't follow their orders! I was spared because I got left behind. I watched my allies get massacred in front of my eyes as I hid in some bushes! I was the sole survivor of that group because the very next day, I saw the leader roaming the streets as a walker! How and when he died, I don't know. I don't know if _he_ killed himself or was killed. Either way, I don't care.

The third group made torture prisoners, ranging from children to the elderly! Sure, I gave remorse, but I wasn't allowed to show that, otherwise I would end up tortured as well! I killed so many children and elderly people in that group, I lost count!

Then the fourth group. Pah! The fourth group was nothing but a bunch of PUSSIES! People hiding in the grass as they watched their prey walk into their traps. You know what we would do?! We would trap them and gut them and CUT them up into little pieces! I only realized what those pieces were for because the next thing I knew, I was in a group full of CANNIBALS! For three weeks I've eaten nothing but meat which I only found out was HUMAN!

The fifth group I was with was more militaristic than any other group I've been in. We were in this fight with this other group, in a burning forest! Nothing but mud and blood around me! I saw everyone die in front of my eyes! People I considered friends, murdered in front of me. I've seen so many people kill other people, get eaten by walkers, or died at my hands. I was the sole survivor of that forest fire massacre. My group as well as the enemy were completely neutralized and I was the only soul to tell the tale.

You know what all those groups have in common? I WAS THE SOLE SURVIVOR! I had to carry all the burden and the guilt on my shoulders for months! MONTHS! It ain't easy, fella! Yeah, I killed people. Yeah, I'm traumatized… but I'm. Not. You." Matt finished ranting.

Cyrus simply looked at Matt with a shocked expression, before he silently chuckled, bring up his usual malicious smile. "You really are a broken kid, Matt… I pity you." he says. He suddenly turned around and started walking towards the cell door. "It's clear you haven't found your answer yet…" he suddenly stopped as he turned his head around to face the teen shackled to the wall. "I'll come by tomorrow after Murrdock has his fun with you again."

Matt shot him a deathly glare. "Go to hell." he growled.

"Toodles." Cyrus says as he closes the cell door before walking away.

"I will not be you, Cyrus! You hear me?! Ich werde nicht du sein! (I will not be you!)" Matt shouted once more.

The sound of a door opened was heard, followed by the same door closing.

* * *

"You're saying that we can escape the Wolf's Den _without_ letting the Timberwolves know?" Hunter asked.

Domino nodded in response, a small smile on his face; Camryn turned to Hunter for a brief moment before turning her attention back to Domino.

"How come I never heard of these exits?" she asked.

"How long have you been with the Timberwolves?" Domino asked.

"A… A good 5 months now. More or less." she asks in an uncertain manner.

"The Timberwolves have been operational since the fourth month of when all of this started, and I've been with them even before them." Domino reveals. "I've been with the Buccaneers, the Altruists, and various other names we've been called after our constant change of leaders. I know Cyrus like the back of my hand and I know that he's clever, charismatic, intelligent, cunning, and will rip open a person's mind and break them down until they're nothing but a shell of their former selves. I've seen him break the toughest men I've seen and turn them into traumatized, scared little babies. He's smart and he's not dumb… Which I why I think it's perfect for us to escape through one of these exits."

Hunter shot him an extremely confused look, looking at Domino as if he was out of his mind. "How does that make sense?!" he asked, bewildered.

"The Wolf's Den is surrounded by huge walls, and behind those huge walls are narrow trenches filled with walkers so if anyone tries to escape, they'll immediately get devoured up." Domino explained.

"Yeah, but how did Bernard and the others escape?" Joe asked.

"We had an opening during manual labor." said a voice.

Hunter, Joe, and Camryn suddenly turned their heads over to the other side of the prison room, revealing Bernard, Cheryl, Melony and Jaren from their own cells.

"Where the hell were you during this whole time?" Hunter asked.

"We were in here." Cheryl replied. "After you guys came back, Cyrus had one of his men bring us to his office where he started preaching on how survival is all about working together and that traitors don't deserve survival. He scheduled us to be publicly executed tomorrow night."

"When we escape, we were all in manual labor working outside the walls when a walker invasion happened." Jaren continues explaining. "That was the perfect distraction for us all to get the hell out of there. No doubt since then, Cyrus made sure to not have any prisoners work outside the walls."

"Well if the whole place is surrounded by a trench full of walkers, how the hell do we get out?" Joe asked.

Hunter suddenly got an idea in his head. "Walker guts." he says.

"Excuse me?" Bernard asks.

"Walker guts. It's how me and the kid used to maneuver around big hordes." Hunter starts explaining. "You cover yourself in their guts to mask your scent so they can't tell you from one of themselves. You can walk amongst them and they won't attack because you're covered in their guts."

"Well even if we did cover ourselves in their guts, how are we gonna even escape the compound if the only exit is the front entrance?" Camryn asked.

"We create a distraction." Domino says. "There's a generator out back that powers the light system of the Wolf's Den. If we destroy that generator, then everyone will be in the dark. Perfect time for us to escape through the hidden exits."

"And then what? Wait for an opening?" Hunter asked.

"Better." Domino replies. "In Cyrus' office there are external speakers and those things are loud as heck. One of us will have to go inside the office, turn them on, and lure in every walker in the vicinity towards the Wolf's Den."

"How will that work in our favor, though?" Cheryl suddenly asked.

"Because this place will be in chaos when everything hits the fan." Domino continues to explain. "Once the walkers get inside, we can use them as cover to get out of this place. The Timberwolves will be too busy handling the walkers to even notice we're gone."

"Alright. That sounds like a good plan. One problem though. Who's gonna turn on the speakers in Cyrus' office?" Jaren asked.

"I can." Camryn says, standing up. "I'm the only Timberwolf here so it'll be easy for me to get inside. I usually go inside the office to grab the keys to the outdoor facility as well as the prison cells. Cyrus keeps them there for safe keeping. Standard protocol. It's where the generator is located."

"So not only are you allowed in the room, but you can also get the keys to the generator room." Hunter says. "We can catch two ghosts with one vaccuum!"

"But how can we trust you?" Cheryl asks. "You're one of them. For all we know, you could report to Cyrus that we're planning to escape and schedule an ambush."

"Well that's just something for you guys to risk, but I guarantee you, I _am_ on your side. If there's anyone else who wants to get out of this place more than you guys, it's me." Camryn reasons.

"I trust her." Joe says.

"You barely know her!" Cheryl responds angrily.

"I barely knew you four when I let you into our boathouse." Joe retorted. "I like to think that everyone is a good guy turned bad. There's a little bit of good in everyone."

"That's kind of stupid." Jaren says.

"It's very stupid." Melony adds.

"Aye. It's dangerous but I admire a man who has his beliefs." Domino says. "So we're all in agreement?"

"What time are we executing the plan?" asked Jaren.

"The moment before you're execution. That way one of you guys can escape in the darkness and open the gates while Camryn turns on the speakers inside the office. No one will be guarding the place since it's going to be a public execution, meaning e_veryone_ will be outside watching, _including_ Cyrus. However, sometime before the plan happens, Camryn is going to have to sneak into the office to steal the keys while one of us destroys the generator."

"How are we going to destroy it?" Joe asked.

"Did you forget? This used to be an explosive factory. We can use one of the explosive devices to destroy the generator. Preferably a remote activated device so we can detonate it at a safe distance."

"Alright. So Camryn will steal the keys from the office, give them to one of us, then after Bernard and the others are taken outside, she will let us out and head to the office to turn on the speakers while we go through the hidden exits and plant the bomb on the generator and detonate it?" Hunter asks.

"Precisely." Domino confirms.

"I can turn on the speakers before you guys blow up the generator so that way we can at least save Bernard and the others. That'll be your cue to raise hell in the base." Camryn says.

"And then after that me and the others will head to the gates and try to open them. If we can." Bernard says. "It's goin' to be dark out so we might have a bit of trouble, but we'll try our best. Then we'll gut one of the walkers."

"Are you sure the guts trick work?" Cheryl asks skeptically.

"Positive. Just ask the kid. He found out since the early days of the outbreak." Hunter reveals.

"Wait. What about Matt?" Camryn suddenly asks. "He doesn't know about the plan.

"The kid's strong, he can handle himself. He's smart too. Once he realizes what's going on, he'll find a way to escape."

"Alright, well just in case. I'm going to unlock his cell as well. He's going to need me in order to escape."

"One more thing." Hunter says. "When you cover yourself in their guts, walk _very_ slowly to blend in with the crowd. Sudden movements will disturb them and cause them to attack you."

"Where do we go after we escape?" Jaren asks.

"When me and Joey were by ourselves, we passed an old, abandoned church. We could meet up there" Joe says.

"It won't matter. Even if we pull this off, Cyrus will just find us again." Cheryl says.

"Yeah but last time you didn't have walkers invade the place." Domino says. "You only said a sudden walker invasion happened _OUTSIDE_ the walls. This time, the walkers will be _inside_ the walls. So hopefully the walkers will be able to take out the Timberwolves once and for all."

"Alright. Summary time." Hunter says. "Camryn steals the keys, Bernard and the others are transported outside, Camryn lets us out, heads to the office while we go through the hidden exits, grab an explosive in the process, destroy the generator, Camryn turns off the lights, Bernard opens the gates, walkers come in, gut them, and sneak out. Correct?"

"Correct." Domino says.

"Me and Matt will have to escape together since I need time to get him out of his cell after the blackout." Camryn says. "We'll try to find a way to escape through the front gates. It's going to be difficult, I'll admit that, but I have a feeling we can pull it off."

"Alright. So it's settled." Domino says. "We have a plan and a time to execute it."

"Can't wait to get out of this shithole." Camryn says.

Jaren brought Melony closer to him. "You hear that, Mel. We're gonna get out of here." Jaren says.

"Thank heavens." she replies. "I hope Matt will be okay."

"He will." Hunter confirms. "He's a tough survivor. I know he'll be okay."

"Alright everyone get some rest." Domino says. "It's getting late so we might as well just sleep until tomorrow."

With that, the many survivors in the prison room lied down on the sleeping bags to get some sleep, closing their eyes in the process. Joe walked back to his sleeping bag while Hunter stayed near Camryn, whom was crouching in front of the jail cell.

"I hope this plan works out." he says.

"Me too." Camryn replies. "Get some sleep. You're gonna need it."

"You know, I've only just met you but… thank you." Hunter whispered, smiling at her.

Camryn smiled back. "No problem." she replies back.

She stood up and began walking towards the jail room's door, leaving Hunter behind. He looked at her walking away and smiled before going back to his sleeping bag. He laid there on the bag and looked at the ceiling, sighing heavily through his nostrils.

"Please be okay, kid." he says to himself as he closes his eyes.

* * *

Matt slumped against the wall of his torture cell as his head hung low, his eyes softly closed as he was fast asleep, indicating by his light snores.

Literally, right at that moment, a bullet whizzed by his ear, going passed as him as he immediately shot his eyes opened. When he opened his eyes, he realized he was no longer in the torture cell but was in the middle of a complete warzone littered with dead bodies as the heavy rain poured down onto the survivors below.

In front of him was a steep hill as the muddy grass made the terrain more slippery along with the rain falling from the sky. Several survivors could be seen fighting each other in aggressive and violent hand to hand combat as an explosion suddenly occurred near a group of other survivors. Legs and various other limbs and body parts flew into the sky as the explosion went off; a survivor could be seen running up the hill only to get shot in the head, fall down onto the ground hard on his back.

Matt began frantically looking everywhere, realizing he was having a horrific flashback in his nightmare. At that moment, he was suddenly pushed to the ground just in time to miss a few bullets whizzing passed the spot that he stood. Matt fell to the muddy ground as he came face to face with another survivor, a young teenaged male, holding a pistol in their hand.

"Why are you just standing there?! You're gonna get yourself killed!" the kid shouts as bullets whiz passed them.

Matt gives a confused look as he looks over the rock the two took cover in. There he saw what appeared to be opened gates to an unknown community up top as many other survivors were climbing the hill. Some were even firing back at the community's members from behind trees. Matt returned his head from behind the rock as a traumatized expression took over his face. He suddenly looked down to realize he was wielding an AK-47 in his hands.

"Cover me while I climb up this hill!" the kid orders. "We need to take down this group to eliminate any more enemies, as well as gain territory and a second base of operations. We'll be untouchable after we take this fortress!"

With that, the kid jumped over the rock and began firing at the people on top of the hill. Having second thoughts, Matt was hesitant to fire at the enemy; he quickly shoved these shots away and got out from cover, aiming his rifle at a person on top of the hill.

And then, he pulled the trigger…

**BANG!**

Matt, along with many other survivors, walked through the front gates of the community that he and his group just recently took. He lazily carried his AK-47 in his right hand as a tired expression mixed with sadness and trauma was painted on his face. He looked to the side to see many of his fellow community members slitting the throats of the enemy, whom were on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs.

"Dillon!" shouted a booming voice. Matt looked in front of him to see a man walking towards him, a huge smile on his face, no doubt the leader of Matt's community. "Aren't you glad that we took this place from their hands?" he asked in an ecstatic manner.

Matt swallowed the lump in his throat. "Y-Yes sir." he shyly says.

"Now," the leader says. "I think it's time for your reward for being such a good soldier. You're a high ranking member of our community. I even consider you a brother to me, Dillon. So… I'm glad to present you your reward." The leader suddenly turns around, the smile not disappearing from his face. "Bring them out, boys!" he orders his men.

At that moment, the door to the community building suddenly opened, revealing three men transporting six women all in their underwear with their hands tied behind their backs as well as their mouths gagged by rags. Matt's eyes widened as he realized what the "reward" was, horrified at what it was. The men pushed the girls to the ground as they all got on their knees; the leader turned to Matt and flashed him a smile.

"Choose your pick." he says.

Matt stared horrifically at the girls before glancing to his superior. "Y-You want me to-"

"Yes." the leader interjected. Matt turned to the girls who gave him pleading looks; he swallowed the lump in his throat once more.

"Matt." the leader suddenly says, catching his attention by the use of his first name. The leader now had a stern, antagonizing look on his face. "If you don't claim your reward, I will be forced to punish you. You will be deemed a traitor… We don't take too kindly to traitors."

At that moment, the man behind cocked his assault rifle, making the leader's point. Matt turned to one of the women, a Caucasion brunette, and walked towards her. Her muffled begs could be heard as Matt gave her an apologetic look; his lower lip trembled as his hand hovered over his crotch area.

"I'm sorry." he whispers.

He unzipped his pants afterwards.

Matt's eyes shot wide open as he slightly gasped for air; he immediately began examining his surroundings, realizing he was back in his torture cell in the basement of the Timberwolf base. His eyes were still wide open as he looked down, feeling his thighs were a little sore. He sighed defeatedly as he closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall behind him.

At that moment, the sound of the doors opening followed by them closing could be heard, grabbing Matt's attention, though he did not look up. A person walked in front of his cell, said person was revealed to be Murrdock, whom was giving Matt the same sadistic smile as he gave him multiple times yesterday.

"Wakey wakey." he says in a sing-song tone as he opens the door. "The doctor is in the house."

"I have a request." Matt casually says as his head still hangs low.

"What's that?" Murrdock asks.

"Give me an apple to keep you away." he says sarcastically.

Murrdock shakes his head as he bends down, dropping his bag onto the ground. "Even after what went through yesterday, you still have your sense of humor." he says.

"The say the sense of humor is the last thing to die through any traumatic event." Matt informs.

"Is that true?" Murrdock asks.

"I don't fucking know. I just made that up on the spot just to give you a quick witted response you absolute cunt."

"Tch. Tch. Tch. Such bad words. Toilet swears. That cannot be good for you."

"How 'bout you fix it by shutting the fuck up?"

"I have something else in mind."

Murrdock suddenly reached inside his bag and brought out a car battery with cables, a pair of wire cutters, a bowie knife, a pipe wrench, and a bucket..

"Oh God. No. Not a bucket. Anything but that." Matt sarcastically says.

Murrdock pushed the bucket over towards Matt, whom took a good look inside it. His eyes widened as he saw what the containments were inside the bucket.

"Is that hot oil?!" he asks, now very worried.

"Why do you- I am not even gonna ask because I already know the answer to it." Matt stops himself.

"So… first things first… Who are you?" Murrdock asks.

"The poor soul that's about to be tortured by a psychotic former surgeon." Matt says sarcastically. "Seriously, get this hot oil away from me. I'm getting anxiety just by looking at it."

"Aaaah. So Cyrus didn't convince you, huh?" Murrdock asked.

"What? That I'm him? Sorry, I don't believe bullshit. All he managed to do was bring up old memories."

"You know, the people that Cyrus tortures break one way or another. It may take minutes… days… weeks. It doesn't matter because eventually they will break down."

Matt glares deadly at Murrdock. "I'm not. Like him." he whispers.

Murrdock smiles. "You will be soon." he says.

He suddenly grabbed the car battery and the cables; he smiled maliciously at Matt as he charged up the cables, causing sparks to fly.

"Time for your shock therapy." he maliciously says.

"Sorry. You must be mistaking me for another pai-"

_**ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!**_

Just like that, Murrdock planted the cables onto Matt's chest, electrocuting him from the inside.

"I-I-I D-DI-IDN-N'T E-EV-EEEEN FI-I-IN-N-N-N-N-NISHED-D-D-D-D!" Matt shouted as he got electrocuted.

Finally, after a few moments of electrocution, Murrdock seized the electrocution, retracting the cables away from Matt's shirt, which was now burnt and had tiny holes in them. Matt groaned as he hung his head low towards the ground; parts of his hair stood up while smoke emitted from the top of his head.

"Look at you." Murrdock says as he pats Matt's head. "Big Matt the human piece of toast."

"Don't you dare reference one of my favorite movies in my presence after you just tortured me." Matt says, pain in his voice.

Murrdock suddenly grabbed the wire cutters and stood up, hovering them over Matt's fingers. "Ah, I see you relocated your fingers from yesterday." he says. "I see you're no stranger to pain."

Matt groaned in response. "Jus- Shut up." he says. "I'm too sick and tired of everyone around here to even make a sarcastic comeback."

"Let me fix that for you." Murrdock says.

"How 'bout no." Matt breathes.

Murrdock suddenly clipped the wire cutter onto Matt's right pinky nail and began to forcefully peel it off his finger. Matt screamed in agonizing pain as his entire arm shook in pain, trying to shake off Murrdock's actions, but to no avail. Eventually, Murrdock ripped the entire nail off of Matt's pinky finger, causing blood to trickle down the side of his hand.

Matt cried in pain as some tears even began to fall down his cheek. Murrdock flicked the nail away as he got in front of Matt's face.

"I'm gonna ask again: Who are you?" Murrdock asked in a serious tone, giving him an equally serious expression.

"Fuck you." Matt says through his teeth.

Murrdock immediately stood up and placed the wire cutters over Matt's right ring finger. Without hesitation, the former surgeon began to forcefully pull the nail right out of Matt's finger, causing him to scream in horrific pain once again.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! FUUUUCK YOOOOOU! FUUUUUCK!" Matt shouted in pain.

Murrdock ripped the nail right out of Matt's finger and flicked it away; blood spilled out of it as it began to drip down the side of his finger and onto his hands and wrist.

"Just fucking kill me please." Matt begged as he cried a bit.

"Trust me. If it were up to me, you would already be dead." Murrdock says.

"Funny. Your trenchcoat friend said the same thing." Matt says as he began panting.

"Jericho isn't my friend." Murrdock reveals. "I actually hate him. Believe it or not, he's kind of crazy. He's too in love with Cyrus. Really fucking creepy."

"You're one to talk." Matt tiredly says. Murrdock patted Matt's head as he reached to the side of him, grabbing the bowie knife. "What're you gonna use that for?" he asked.

"You'll see." Murrdock says.

He pulled down Matt's collar of his shirt and jacket, exposing his bare shoulder. Without hesitating, Murrdock suddenly slashed Matt's shoulder, slicing it as the skin tore from each other. Matt hissed and grunted in pain as blood poured out of his shoulder. Murrdock went over to the other shoulder and pulled down his shirt and jacket, before slicing the shoulder as well. Matt hissed and grunted some more as blood began to spill out of his shoulder.

Matt panted as he leaned his head back, leaning it against the wall behind him. "If you think this will break me," he panted some more. "you're dead wrong. My father used to beat me severely to the point where I couldn't get up and my mom used to lock me in the basement for weeks and only feed me fish heads. This is nothing compared to my home life."

"I'm not trying to outdo your parents, kid." Murrdock says. "I just love seeing you in pain. Brings a smile to my face."

Murrdock suddenly grabbed the pipe wrench beside him; he turned to his victim and smiled deviously at him.

"Do you know who you are now?" he asks. "The more you answer incorrectly, the more I hurt you. I'll keep doing this until you finally give me the correct answer. Because let me tell you something…" he suddenly got up close to Matt's face. "In here, in this community… we're all Cyrus… We're Cyrus and we are alive… So… Who are you?"

"You already know the answer." Matt answers tiredly.

Murrdock suddenly swung the pipe wrench onto Matt's left elbow, completely dislocating it. Matt screamed in horrific pain as his elbow was bent the complete opposite direction. Murrdock placed the pipe wrench and laid it on his shoulder as he gave a malicious grin at Matt below him. Matt began to silently hiss as tears began to fall down his cheek.

"You know you really are a dumbass kid." Murrdock says. "All you have to do is accept your new identity. Cyrus saved us all and he's trying to save you. Can't you see that?"

"My body is in constant pain." Matt breathes heavily.

"It's about to get a whole lot worse."

Murrdock slightly pushed the bucket of hot oil towards Matt. "Oh, I forgot about the bucket." he says.

Murrdock suddenly unlocked Matt's shackles, causing his arms to limply fall to the side. The former surgeon grabbed Matt's right arm before he placed on a pair of industrial gloves With the sleeves already rolled up, he had no reason to expose his bare arm. He grabbed the bucket as he placed Matt's arm a little away from his body.

Murrdock didn't waste any time as he began to tilt the bucket a little forwards, pouring the hot oil all over Matt's bare arm. Matt screamed in horrific, agonizing pain as his whole body shook while his arm violently shook as well. However, Murrdock made sure to keep his arm steady by pinning it to the wall with his own strength.

Murrdock retracted the bucket away as the hot oil continue to burn Matt's skin, completely destroying the roots of his arm hairs while at the same time burning them away. He let go of Matt's arm as the teen himself continue to scream in pain. Eventually he seized his screaming as he began to silently sob, tears falling down his cheeks. The former surgeon suddenly pulled out some bandages; he then began to wrap them around Matt's fingers where the nails used to be.

After a while, Matt's wounds were being treated; his fingers were bandaged from where the nails used to be, his shoulders were bandaged as well, and a wet cloth of cold water was placed on Matt's arm to stop the burning. The teen turned his attention to his left arm; with his right arm unshackled, he wasted no time to relocate his elbow back in place, hissing in pain in the process.

"Looked painful." Murrdock says with a smile on his face.

"Go to hell." Matt replies back.

"Cyrus will be with you tonight. He has an execution to attend to later on."

"Who's getting executed?" Matt asked.

"Bernard, the girl, and the two siblings. Bunch of abandoners is what they are. They deserve to get hanged. You'll be alright down here, won't you?"

Matt responded by spitting on Murrdock's face; the former surgeon wiped the spit off of his face as he glared at the teen in front of him.

"I heal your wounds and this is the thanks I get?" he asks.

He suddenly punched Matt in the gut, causing him to grunt out in pain; Murrdock then got up as he grabbed his bag and the various other objects he brought with him before exiting the cell.

"Murrdock." Matt suddenly speaks up, grabbing his attention. "You do realize one of these days, karma will bite you in the ass, right?"

Murrdock smiles sadistically at him. "I don't believe in karma." he says as he walks away.

Matt sighed through his nostrils as he lowered his head, tired from the recent torture just now.

* * *

Camryn walked through the hallways of the Wolf's Den, heading towards the first phase of the escape plan: getting the keys. As she neared Cyrus' office, she saw the usual two guards guarding said office, both wielding machetes in their hands.

"Boys." she greets them.

"Afternoon, Cam." one of the guards responds.

"Is Cyrus in there?" she asks.

"No." the other guard responds. "He's over at the Well of Souls, intimidating a prisoner."

"What else is new?" she sighs as she enters the office. "I'm just getting the keys to the prison cells. I'm not gonna take long. I promise not to touch any of his stuff, alright."

"Whatever." the left guard replies.

She closes the door, now fully inside Cyrus' office; she immediately noticed a dried blood stain, most likely from the Timberwolf Cyrus killed earlier. Her heart flinched knowing one of her fellow Timberwolves was killed in the same room she was. She immediately shook these feelings away as she walked towards the board where all the keys were.

There were several labels above the keys, indicating which one opened what: Prison. Armory. Infirmary. Maintenance Tunnel. Generator.

The only key that appeared to be missing was the Maintenance Tunnel key; however, there was a note on the side of the bulletin board that read: **lost maintenance tunnel key. check tunnel**

She quickly grabbed both the Prison and the Generator key, before walking towards the side table of the office. There, on the table, were several radios that the Timberwolves use to communicate in their charging ports. She quickly grabbed two of the radios and just as quickly exited the office.

* * *

A ball bounced off a wall. It bounced off the same wall once more. And again, and again. The Timberwolf in front of the prison cell had a very irritated expression on face as behind him, Joe was constantly throwing the ball against the wall back and forth over and over again.

The Timberwolf groaned in annoyance. "I regret ever getting you that ball." he says.

At that moment, the doors opened, revealing Camryn to be walking towards the prison cells. "Move out of the way, Connor. My turn to take shift." Camryn says.

"I told you my name's Charlie." Charlie replied in an aggressive tone.

Camryn shot him an irritated expression; she suddenly turned around and lifted up her jacket and shirt, revealing the letters TW scarred on her back.

"Look at my back." she says, turning her head around. "Does it say, 'I give a damn'?"

Charlie remained silent as he sneered at the teen in front of him, growling at her as he walked passed her. "Fucking ignorant teens." he mutters to himself as he walks away.

As the Timberwolf exited the prison room, Camryn was left with the other prisoners, as well as the next phase of the escape plan.

"You got the keys?" Joe asked. Camryn jiggled the keys in her hands, giving him a confident grin. "That's my good girl."

Camryn shot him an annoyed expression. "First of all, not your girl. Second of all, never say that sentence again to me." she says.

Joe gave her a confused look. "Uh- Okay?" he questionably replied.

At that moment, the doors opened, revealing three Timberwolves, two of whom were wielding custom made weapons. "Bernard." the Timberwolf announces. "It's time for you and your friends' execution."

"Right on time." Camryn whispers to Joe, whom gives a thumbs up.

"Camryn. Open up the cell door." the Timberwolf ordered.

The Filipino teen stood up and approached Bernard's cell; inserting the key in the lock, she twisted it as she opened the cell door. She was suddenly pushed out of the way by the Timberwolf as the two other Timberwolves entered the cell, forcing the four survivors inside to exit the cell. Cheryl merely sneered at the Timberwolf, almost growling at him.

"You have no one to blame but yourselves. You knew the rules and you decided to break them. Every wrongdoing has it's consequences, and it's time for you to pay for them." the Timberwolf says.

The two Timberwolves pushed the four out of the way as they forced them towards the prison door exit, leaving Camryn and the rest of the prisoners alone in the room. Camryn immediately turned around and jogged over to

Domino's cell, immediately unlocking it. However, she immediately realized something was off with the cell door.

"That's weird." she says.

"What?" Hunter asks.

"This cell door was already unlocked."

As if right on cue, Domino casually opened the door and walked right out. "Alright, unlock the other doors. I'll wait by the hidden exit." he says as he walks away.

Camryn quickly unlocked Hunter and Joe's cells, releasing them; eventually, she unlocked the other cells, releasing the rest of the prisoners. Soon, the entire room consisted of at least 15 people, including Camryn, Domino, Hunter, and Joe. The prisoners all walked towards the back where Domino was leaning against the wall next to a bookcase.

"Behind this bookcase is the hidden exit." Domino says. "All you have to do is move it."

A few prisoners turned to each other and shrugged before walking over to the bookcase. "Alright," Camryn suddenly spoke up. "I'm going to head to the office and turn on the speakers. Once you hear the speakers go on, you destroy the generator. Domino, can you lead the other prisoners towards the front entrance so they can escape amongst the chaos?"

"That I can do." Domino agrees.

"Good." she says. "Here, take this radio for communication."

Domino suddenly raised his hands in the air. "You may want to give that to someone else. I'm not good with technology." he says.

Camryn shoots him a confused look. "Uh, okay?" she questions as she hands the radio over to Hunter.

"We're gonna rescue Joey, right?" he asks. "He doesn't know about the plan so he's gonna be scared and confused about what's happening. And it's gonna be hard to communicate with him in the dark."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, I need to head to the office and get everything ready. I'm on channel two." she informs him as she runs off.

"Alright. The bookcase is moved." said a prisoner.

"Now all we have to do is break down that wall." Domino informs.

"But we don't have any sledgehammers." said a woman.

"Here." Hunter says as he holds a bucket. "We can use this as some sort of battering ram."

"A bucket?!" exclaimed a man. "You think a bucket's gonna break down this wall?!"

"The wall's not that thick." Domino informs the group. "You could kick it down if you want to. It's fairly weak."

Hunter suddenly slammed the butt of the bucket onto the wall, causing the brick to move forward a little bit as dust fell to the ground. "Everyone!" Hunter announces. "Push down this wall!"

One by one, all the prisoners began putting force against the wall, either using their palms or straight up kicking the damn thing. Eventually, after enough force, the entire wall came crumbling down, revealing a small hallway with a door at the end of the corridor.

"That door will lead into the hidden exit, which connects to the explosive room where we can get the explosives for the generator." Domino explains.

The prisoners all approached the door as Joe grabbed onto the handle

Joe heavily sighed. "Let's get the hell out of here.' he mutters as he opens the door.

* * *

Outside, the many Timberwolves were standing all in front of a homemade stage, watching as the execution was about to commence.

"My fellow Timberwolves!" Cyrus' voice boomed over the area; Cyrus was joined by Jericho, whom had a black eye, and Murrdock on stage. "I gather you all here tonight to show you true punishment! Some of you may recognize these faces." Cyrus then pointed to the four prisoners on stage. "Bernard… and his friends." Melony gulped. "They have proven one thing AND ONE THING ONLY!... They. Are. Dis-loyal! They ran away from home like cowards but in the end they are back to face their consequences and bring justice back in our family!"

"Cyrus! Boom ba yay! Cyrus! Boom ba yay! Cyrus! Boom ba yay!" the Timberwolves all chanted as they all punched their chests, confusing poor Joey who was in the midst of the crowd.

Inside Cyrus' office was Camryn, whom looked out the window, getting a perfect view of the stage as well as Cyrus' speech.

"Guys. Are you at the generator yet?" she asked on the walkie talkie.

Down in the tunnels, the many prisoners were wandering down the narrow hallway in the dark. "Not yet." Hunter answered. "We can't see in the damn dark."

_~Well hurry up! They're about to execute the others any second now!~_ Camryn's voice shouted from the other side of the radio.

"Hold on. I think I'm holding a candle." Joe suddenly says. "Does anyone have a lighter?"

"I got one right here." said a prisoner as he handed Joe the lighter.

Joe immediately turned on the lighter and lit up the candle in his hand… only to reveal that it wasn't a candle but a stick of dynamite.

"That's dynamite, Joe." Hunter calmly says.

"Oh." Joe simply says, a slightly scared expression on his face.

A few seconds of silence passed by, the only sound was the dynamite's string slowly igniting. "You're a fucking idiot." Hunter says.

"Well," Domino says. "that takes care of the explosives. Now all we have to do is find the generator. It'll be down this hallway to the right. There's going to be a door where it leads to the generator."

"Well let's hurry up!" shouted a male prisoner. "I don't want to die in this freaking hallway, man!"

_~What's this I hear about dynamite?~_ Camryn's voice could be heard on the radio.

"Oh whoops. I had my finger on the button the whole time." Joe casually says.

"You're proving your idiocy with each minute. Now let's get out of here before you blow us all up to pieces!" Hunter shouts as the prisoners began running down the dark hallway.

Camryn stared confusingly at the radio before taking a look outside, seeing that Cyrus had some of his men bring out some nooses. "Shit." she whispers.

She suddenly turned her attention to the speaker controls; she pushed the eject button, revealing that was no disk inside. She then opened up a drawer and grabbed a random disk and inserted it in the disk player, before pushing the eject button once more. The disk entered the speaker system as she turned it on; she suddenly grabbed her radio and turned it on.

"Guys. The speaker is on. Are you at the generator yet?" she asked.

Hunter, Joe, and the other prisoners burst out of the back entrance of the factory. "We just exited the building right now!" Hunter informed Camryn.

"The generator is in that building!" Domino informs the group as he points to the building ahead of them.

"Joe, take that stick of dynamite to destroy the generator." Hunter orders. "I'm gonna head to the front to get ready for the escape."

Joe suddenly ran towards the generator room, leaving the other prisoners behind. Hunter turned his head to see Domino walking away. "Domino, where are you going?" he asked.

Domino turned around and flashed Hunter a smile. "You have your way of escaping and I have mine." he says. "I'll meet you all over at the abandoned church."

With that said, Domino ran away and turned the corner, leaving Hunter's line of sight. The former ghost hunter shot the spot where Domino once was a confused look before grabbing his radio.

"Alright, Camryn. Joe is planting the explosives right now. You may want to turn on the speakers." he orders.

Inside the office, Camryn hovered over the play button; she heavily inhaled and exhaled through her mouth, preparing to hit the button.

* * *

"Soon justice will served for their crimes." Cyrus continued to announce. Bernard the other three survivors all stood in front of the recently placed nooses with wide, shaky eyes. "Let this be an example of what treachery gets you into. Our glorious future is at hand. We can all stand proud knowing that our community, our family, is once again. I am certain that if anyone tries to harm my people in some shape or form, they will be severely punished. It is time for a new beginning!"

"Cyrus! Boom ba yay! Cyrus! Boom ba ya! Cyrus-"

_Heya Tom, it's Bob… from the office up the hall…_

Everyone suddenly grew silent as a song was played on the outside speakers, awakening everything around the vicinity.

"Huh?"

"What?"

Several murmurs could be heard in the crowd; Joey however began looking everywhere, wondering why everyone stopped cheering and looking confused.

_Good to see you buddy, how've you been?_

_Things have been okay for me except that I'm a zombie now_

Outside the walls, several walkers could be seen turning their heads towards the community, growling in the process. Because of the loud song playing on the outside speakers of the factory, they were lured towards the community, like a moth to a flame.

Cyrus, Jericho, and Murrdock turned their attention to the window of Cyrus' office. Right at the moment, an explosion was heard behind the factory, scaring everyone as they all screamed. Suddenly, the lights went out, dampening the entire area in darkness.

_I really wish you'd let us in_

Bernard, Cheryl, Jaren, and Melony all jumped off the stage as they made a run towards the front gates.

"Was that the generator that powered the lights?" Jericho asked.

"How did it explode?" Murrdock asked.

"Probably a short fuse."

"Generators don't have fuses. This factory used to make explosives. Gentlemen, this blackout is a decoy. We have an escape in progress." Cyrus informed the two.

_I think I speak for all of us when I say I understand_

_Why you folks might hesitate to submit to our demand_

Over at the front gates, the two Timberwolves guards whom were both wielding rifles began wondering why everything went black in the entire base.

"What the hell happened?!" shouted one of the guards.

Bernard, whom was climbing the ladder from below, punched the guard right in the crotch, causing him to drop his rifle. The guard bent down to grab his genitals only to get punched in the throat. Bernard suddenly grabbed the guard's shirt and threw him off the balcony. The middle aged African-American climbed up the ladder and approached the controls. He looked to the other side to see Jaren push the second guard over the wall and over the other side of the gates.

The guard that Jaren pushed over fell to the ground as he groaned in pain. He suddenly looked up to see a huge horde of walkers walking his way, growling in the process. The Timberwolf screamed in fear as a walker bent down and forcefully pushed the Timberwolf onto the ground, before taking a huge bite out of his neck.

Bernard and Jaren both used the controls to open the front gates slowly opening them. Slowly, the gates opened as the many walkers behind them began to spill into the front yard of the Timberwolf community. Cheryl and Melony hid behind some boxes so the walkers wouldn't be able to find them.

A Timberwolf amongst the crowd suddenly turned around, realizing that a huge horde of walkers were behind him. His eyes shot wide open as fear filled his veins.

_But here's an FYI: you're all gonna die screaming_

"WALKERS!" screamed the Timberwolf.

At that moment, every Timberwolf, including Joey, turned around to see a huge horde of walkers coming their way.

_All we want to do is eat your brains_

_We're not unreasonable, I mean, no one's gonna eat your eyes_

"How did they get inside?!" shouted one Timberwolf.

"Just kill them!" shouted another.

And like that, the Timberwolves all either began to fight the walkers or ran away to gather weapons. Joey however was unbelievably scared and confused as what was happening and why walkers were suddenly spilling into the community. So he decided to run away, running towards the door of the factory.

Over by the boxes, Cherry managed to grab a walker and bring it down towards her and Melony. However, because she didn't have a weapon, she acted quickly and dropped a box on the walker's head, not only crushing it but killing it.

Cyrus turned to his right hand man, Jericho. "Find whoever was in my office and kill them." he ordered.

"Yes, sir." Jericho complied as he ran towards the entrance to the factory.

Cyrus then turned his attention to Murrdock. "Check on the kid. Make sure he hasn't escaped and if he has, find him and bring him back to his cell."

"What about the prisoners?" Murrdock asked.

"I'll take care of them." he says as he grabs his Desert Eagle. "I want my face the first thing they see when they try to escape our community."

* * *

Camryn ran down the stairs of the factory as fast as she could, trying to get to the torture room that Matt was being held in to set him free. She jumped down the last few steps as she ran down the hallway; however, she accidentally bumped into Murrdock, who gave her a deathly glare.

"Giovanni!" she exclaimed in surprise.

Murrdock continued to glare at her, scaring the poor Filipino teen in her tracks. She gulped as she worried that he found out that she was the one who turned on the outside speakers.

"Go outside." Murrdock ordered. "There's a breach in the front gates. I need you to help everyone else out. Walkers are spilling into our community. We need everyone to take care of the situation."

"I was gonna see the kid downstairs." she says.

"Leave him to me." Murrdock says in a venomous tone. "If anyone is going to take care of that kid, it's going to be _me_." he says as he pointed to himself.

With that said, Murrdock continued to walk down the hallway before turning the corner, heading down the stairs. Camryn stared at the direction that her superior walked in, relieved that her cover wasn't blown but at the same time worried for Matt's well being downstairs.

Her attention suddenly turned to a single barrel at the corner of the hallway with a single lead pipe on top of it.

* * *

Hunter, Joe, and the rest of the prisoners ran across the side of the factory as the song continued to play loudly overhead. From a distance, they could hear screaming and walkers growling while a few gunshots could also be heard. They suddenly turned the corner and immediately stopped, their eyes going wide as they stared at a figure in front of them.

"Hello." Cyrus says, revealing that he was the figure that stood before them.

"Cyrus." Hunter says in surprise.

"You guys haven't even been here for a day and you're already trying to escape?" he asked, feigning offense. "I'm hurt… Really. I am. I give you a place to stay and this is the thanks I get?"

"You have a warped idea of 'a place to stay'." Joe retorts.

"Awwww. Don't be such a baby." Cyrus says. "You take what you get. You don't complain. You're lucky to even have a home than be out there with all the walkers."

"I'd rather take my chances with the walkers than stay any longer in this hellhole!" shouted a man in the group.

"Why are we just standing here?!" shouted another man. "There's a ton of us and only one of him! Let's just take him on right now!"

The man suddenly lunged forward as he charged towards the Timberwolf leader. Cyrus did nothing but raise his gun in the air and aimed it at the man's head, before pulling the trigger. The man was shot dead in front of the survivors' eyes as he fell dead on the ground, his lifeless eyes staring at the sky above him.

"Do you really want to test me?!" Cyrus suddenly shouted, anger in his voice. "Use you heads! I hold all the cards in my hand! Now you've really pissed me off. You know, at first I was just gonna relocate you guys to a temporary prison while we fix the hole that you presumably destroyed. I mean, that _is_ how you escaped, right? The hidden exit? What I don't get is how you guys knew about it in the first place."

"Domino told us." Hunter answered.

Cyrus shot him a confused look. "Who?" he asked.

"The guy you ordered to block the hidden exit a long time ago. He was in the cell with us. Two different eye colors."

"Don't know who that is."

"He said he was a former Timberwolf."

"Well if he was, he's lying. All former Timberwolves are sent to the Well of Souls for treachery. Probably just another prisoner. Now…" Cyrus suddenly aimed his gun at Hunter's head. "I think it's about time I fix this little prison break ordeal."

Right at that moment, a lead pipe was thrown towards Cyrus' head, causing him to stumble to the side while at the same time accidentally pulling the trigger, which shot up in the air. Camryn suddenly came out of nowhere and pushed Cyrus into the trench filled with walkers. The Timberwolf leader tried to keep his balance as he stood on one foot; he eventually lost his balance and fell into the trench.

An audible thud could be heard from the bottom of the trench; Hunter turned to Camryn who was panting.

"Thanks." Hunter says.

"No problem." she responds.

"Did you get Matt?" Joe asked.

"Murrdock stopped me. He's going to take care of him."

"What now?!" asked Joe, obviously panicked.

"Just get to the front gates. I'll try to meet you guys there after I try to free Matt." she suddenly turned her head to Hunter. "You said the guts trick would work, right?"

"It should. Yeah." the former ghost hunter responded.

"Well that's our only hope. I need to go. I only came out here to give you a weapon for defense."

"The lead pipe?" Joe asked.

"Yeah." Camryn confirmed. "I gotta go now. I'll meet you guys soon!"

With that said, she ran back inside the factory, leaving the prisoners outside. "Come on. We don't have time." Hunter says.

He and the rest of the survivors began running away and towards the front gates; however, unbeknownst to any of them, the trench that Cyrus fell in could be heard with several growls from below.

All of a sudden, a pair of hands grabbed the ledge of the trench.

* * *

Matt continued to lay against the wall in the torture room while the muffled song could be heard from outside. At that moment, the sound of the doors opening and closing could be heard as Murrdock came into view.

"Good. You're still here." he says.

Matt said nothing and continued to look down.

"You know, Cyrus thought you would have escaped but I knew you were still down here. There's no way you could've escaped."

Matt still said nothing.

"Are you even listening?" Murrdock asked, anger in his voice.

Matt continued to stay silent, his body not moving.

"Hey… HEY! Wake the fuck up!" Murrdock shouted.

Matt continued to lay against the wall with his head down, not moving a muscle at all. Murrdock, now slightly worried, grabbed his key and opened the cell door before entering the cell. He walked towards Matt cautiously, having a slight worried expression on his face.

"Hey." he says.

Murrdock grabbed Matt's hair and lifted his head up, seeing that his eyes were closed. He let go of his head as it fell back down; his entire body was limp, as if he was dead.

"Oh no." Murrdock says. "Goddamnit! Fuck! He wasn't supposed to die! How did he die?! I know for a fact I didn't use any lethal tactics on him! I'm a professional surgeon! How did he die for Christ sakes?!"

Matt's corpse continued to slump against the wall, still not moving a muscle.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." Murrdock continuously said. "Fuck! Cyrus doesn't need to know about this. If he finds out I killed his patient, I'll be so fucked."

Murrdock suddenly placed his fingers against Matt's neck to check for a pulse. However, he couldn't find any, confirming that Matt was dead. He quickly grabbed his keys and unlocked Matt's shackles; after each shackle, Matt's arm limply fell to the ground. At that moment, the doors opened once again as the sound of running footsteps could be heard. Camryn suddenly came into view and looked inside cell, immediately seeing Matt lying against the wall, not moving at all.

"Oh my God. What happened?" she asked.

Murrdock turned around. "Wha- Camryn?! What're you doing down here?!"

At that moment, Matt's eyes opened as he lifted his head into the air, looking directly at Murrdock's back.

"I came here to check on Matt." Camryn replied back.

"I told you to go out in front and help our men deal with the walkers you stupid bi-"

"RAARGH!" Matt growled as he came up from behind Murrdock.

The former surgeon screamed in surprise as he backed up, seeing Matt slowly walking towards him and Camryn, having his arms out in front of him as he continued to growl and chomp his teeth.

"Shit! He's a walker! Kill him!" Murrdock shouted.

"I don't have a weapon!" Camryn shouted back.

Walker Matt suddenly grabbed onto Camryn's arm and brought it closer to it's jaws, trying to take a bite out of her flesh. Camryn tried to retract her arm but Walker Matt was proven to be stronger than her as it continued to try to chomp on her skin. At one point, it's tongue managed to slightly lick Camryn's arm, causing her to scream out in horror; Walker Matt's teeth were mere millimeters away from her flesh.

Camryn suddenly shoved Walker Matt away as it got thrown towards Murrdock. The former surgeon placed his hand on Walker Matt's chest to try and get it away from him as it began to continuously chomp towards his face. Murrdock took a good look at Walker Matt's eyes and realized they were still green, his usual color when he was alive as opposed to the usual glowing yellow eyes he was familiar with.

"Wait a minute. His eyes are normal!" Murrdock shouted.

Walker Matt continued to growl before he seized his chomping. "You're not as dumb as you look." Walker Matt growled out.

Murrdock gasped at the sight of the walker in front of him actually talking. Suddenly, Walker Matt grabbed Murrdock's crotch and lifted him before slamming him down onto the ground behind him. This action alone revealed that Matt was very much alive and was not a walker at all.

"Matt?! You're alive?!" Camryn asked.

"Had to get the jump on him." Matt replied. He suddenly turned towards her. "Get out of here. I want to take care of him myself."

"But-"

"Now!" Matt shouted, interjecting Camryn.

Not wanting to argue, she immediately left the room to leave Matt and Murrdock to themselves. Murrdock suddenly stood up, chuckling to himself as he rubbed his back and head in pain.

"You're smart. I'll give you that." he says. "Stopping your own pulse or at least lowering your heart rate to fool me… You're a smart survivor."

"I've been surviving even before the outbreak." Matt says.

Murrdock chuckled as he walked over to a drawer. "You know the thing about being a surgeon?" he asked as he opened up the drawer. "You have to constantly be aware of your surroundings and you have to be precise about everything, otherwise…" He suddenly pulled out a bonesaw from the drawer. "One false move could end a man's life, but don't worry, I'll make sure you sure live…" he swung the bonesaw around, growing a devious expression on his face as he turned to face Matt, maliciously smiling at him.

"**Trust me. I'm a doctor."** Murrdock then began to laugh maniacally out loud as Matt stared at him in horror.

Murrdock suddenly lunged forward towards Matt, swinging his bonesaw at him. However, Matt was quicker as dodged the swings from the deadly bonesaw. Acting quickly, Matt immediately kicked Murrdock in the stomach, sending him flying backwards as he landed on his back. Needing a weapon desperately, Matt began to search around the room for any deadly object.

There he saw a lead pipe connected to some other pipes on the wall; acting quickly, he grabbed the pipe and placed his foot on the wall as he used all of his strength to forcefully pull the pipe out of it's location. Eventually, the pipe was successfully ripped out of it's place, giving Matt a fighting advantage to the fight at hand.

At that moment, he turned around to see Murrdock charging at him once more with the bonesaw in his hand. Matt quickly raised the pipe in the air to block the bonesaw from touching him. The bonesaw collided with the pipe which successfully blocked the attack. However, Murrdock kicked Matt in the gut, causing him to crash into a set of lockers behind him.

Murrdock went in for another swing only for Matt to get out of the way in time; acting quickly while not thinking at all, Matt swung the lead pipe against Murrdock's face, sending him falling to the ground while doing a slight spin the process. The teen approached the former surgeon's body and raised the lead pipe in the air, ready to swing it down onto the man's head. However, Murrdock managed to roll around in time just as the lead pipe collided with the cement ground below.

Murrdock swung his bonesaw towards Matt's leg to at least try to injury him in some way. However, Matt was quicker as he moved the pipe to intercept the bonesaw from colliding with his legs. Murrdock suddenly swung his legs to trip Matt, causing him to fall on his back. Matt grunted as Murrdock got on top of him and pinned his arm to the ground as he hovered the bonesaw over it. Realizing what he was doing, Matt immediately lost all train of thought as he began to improvise. He suddenly grabbed Murrdock's hair and brought him closer to his face; he then bit down hard onto Murrdock's ear, causing him to scream in agonizing pain.

Matt then kicked Murrdock off of his body, causing him to rip a part of Murrdock's ear off of him. The former surgeon grabbed his ear in pain as blood began to pour out from the wounds. Both of them quickly got on to their feet and stood up, ready to continue the fight. Matt was the first to take action as he charged towards Murrdock and swung the lead pipe. However, Murrdock managed to duck just in time; he suddenly started to counterattack by swinging the bonesaw towards Matt's waist side. However, Matt used the lead pipe to intercept the attack, blocking the bonesaw from touching any part of his body.

Matt then immediately used his right elbow to punch Murrdock in the face, causing him to back up a bit. He then swung the lead pipe against Murrdock's side, at least breaking a few ribs. Not wanting to give his enemy a chance to attack, Matt immediately jump kicked Murrdock towards the wall, causing him to crash into it while also sliding down. However, because he jumped kicked him, Matt managed to fall down as well, equally vulnerable as Murrdock currently was.

Both quickly got up as Murrdock lunged forward, swinging his bonesaw towards Matt's neck to decapitate him. Matt acted quickly as he ducked down, dodging the attack. However, Murrdock suddenly began to bombard Matt with a barrage of attacks, constantly swinging his bonesaw to at least try to injure Matt in some form. Matt suddenly dropped down to the ground and onto his back as he raised his feet in the air. He suddenly pushed his entire body forward and managed to do a kip up, kicking Murrdock directly in the face causing him to fall down onto his back.

Matt quickly recovered from his kip up as he got back up, his grip still tight on the lead pipe in his left hand. He saw Murrdock still lying on the ground with the bonesaw still in his hand. Wasting no time, Matt swung the pipe down onto Murrdock's face, causing blood to pour out of the gash that Matt gave him. Murrdock retaliated by kicking Matt in the gut, causing him to bend forward a little bit. The former surgeon however used all of his strength to kick Matt right in the face, causing him to stumble backwards into the wall.

Murrdock slowly got up as he grabbed his face, wiping the blood from the horrific wound on his forehead and nose that Matt gave him. He dizzily swung his bonesaw in hopes of hitting his target, but missed completely thanks to his distorted vision that he gained from recent injury. Matt suddenly swung the metal pipe against Murrdock's face, causing him to stumble backwards a bit. The teen then began swinging the metal pipe around violently, hitting Murrdock's face once more as well as his arms, legs, and the side of his torso.

Murrdock, now bloodied and bruised, stumbled backwards as he was disoriented, having trouble standing up. Matt used all of his strength to kick Murrdock right in the gut, causing him to stumble into a wall. Without hesitating and not wanting his enemy to get any sort of chance, Matt performed a powerful hook kick towards Murrdock's face, causing him to spin around and fall to the ground, dropping his bone saw in the process. Murrdock groaned in pain as blood began to spill out of his wounds.

"You fucking prick." he says in pain as he spat out in blood. "Don't you know who we are? We're the Timberwolves. We're survivors. We're kings. We rule these woods. You mess with one of us you mess with all of us. You fucking asshole."

Murrdock grabbed his bonesaw he tried to get up, having trouble doing so because of his recent critical injuries.

"I'm a surgeon!" he announced. "I know every part of the human body! The healing is not as enjoyable as the hurting, and I really, _REALLY_ want to hurt you… Let me fix you up and put you back together. You can trust me… I am a doctor after all."

Murrdock then slowly swung his bonesaw in Matt's direction, only for Matt to casually walk out of the way. Murrdock turned around and glared at Matt, feeling his time and life slowly decreasing by each second.

"You ffffffuck." he pants. "You can't hurt me. I'm a certified surgeon. I know how to not only cure but to help people live. But the joy isn't saving someone… It's taking someone else's life. That's what brings me joy… I'M A SURGEON!"

Murrdock suddenly swung his bonesaw towards Matt and completely missed. However, he accidentally managed to cut his own stomach after his swing, causing his intestines to spill onto the floor. Murrdock screamed in pain as he dropped his bonesaw onto the ground as he tried to gather his falling intestines. He grew dizzy as he fell down, right onto his bonesaw which managed to slash his back. The former surgeon continued to grab his inner organs before he took his final breath, dying from the blood loss and the critical wounds he was given in the fight.

"Yeah. You have the guts to be a surgeon." Matt quips.

He dropped the lead pipe on the ground, thankful for the fight to end. However, he suddenly fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

"That fight managed to get me distracted from the constant pain I was in." he says to himself. "No doubt I'm in an even worse shape than I was before."

At that moment, the doors opened, revealing the person who opened it to be Camryn. "Oh my God! Matt! Are you alright?!" she asked clearly worried as she ran towards him.

However, she immediately stopped as she took a single glance at Murrdock's disemboweled corpse.

"OH MY GOD!" she screamed as she covered her eyes.

"Yeah. Don't- Don't look at it." Matt tells her. "Listen, I'm in pain. I don't know what's going on up there but I'm in excruciating pa-"

"We're escaping." Camryn says in a stern.

"What?" Matt asked, clearly confused.

"Me and your friends are escaping this place. I came down here to help you get out of here, but I wasn't expecting Murrdock to come down." she tells him.

"Well can you tell me what's going on?" Matt asks as Camryn helps him up to his feet.

"I'll explain on the way. Come on, let's go."

"Wait! Hold on." Matt stops her. He limped his way towards Murrdock's corpse and spat on it. "Asshole."

"What about his brain?" Camryn asked.

"Let him turn. The cunt deserves it anyway." Matt limped his way towards Camryn as she placed an arm around him. "I can feel my life fading before my eyes… I think I'm dying."

"Just stay with me, Matt." she says as she opens the door. "You're gonna be okay."

With that, she closed the door, leaving Murrdock's corpse on the ground to turn. As if on cue, Murrdock's eyes suddenly opened, revealing his eyes to be glowing yellow.

* * *

Cheryl and Melony continued to hide behind the boxes as older female looked over said boxes, seeing multiple Timberwolves fighting the invading walkers. Some killing the walkers while some were _getting_ killed by the walkers in horrific manners. At that moment, Bernard and Jaren came running across towards them and jumped over the boxes, hiding from the multiple enemies behind them.

"This place is in chaos." Jaren says.

"Here comes Joe and the rest." Bernard announces as he points out ahead of them.

The three turned their heads to see Hunter, Joe, and the rest of the surviving prisoners running towards the four. They eventually met up with the four and hid behind the boxes.

"Alright. We're all here." Hunter says.

"Where's Matt and Joey?" Bernard asked.

"Camryn's getting the kid. I don't know where Joey is." Hunter replies.

"I thought he was with you!" Joe exclaims.

"We saw him in the crowd but after the lights went out, we lost him." Jaren says.

"Oh God." Joe whispers in fear.

"We can't worry about him right now. We need to escape this place. Do any of you have a knife?" Hunter asked.

"Why are you asking the people that were about to get executed?" Jaren asked in annoyance.

Hunter turned his head to see a Timberwolf fighting a bunch of walkers. The Timberwolf backed up towards the boxes as he was slowly getting overwhelmed by the walkers in front of him. The former ghost hunter noticed a small knife in a holster on the side of his belt. Hunter reached out his hand to try and grab the knife; he eventually grabbed the handle right on time for the walker to plunge it's teeth onto the Timberwolf's neck, slowly devouring him.

Hunter turned to the walker corpse that Cheryl killed earlier and plunged the knife right into the torso of it. He then began to disembowel it, slowly revealing it's inner organs, grossing out everyone in the group.

"Ugh! The smell!" Jaren says as he clenches his nose.

"So gross." Melony adds.

"I know it's gross but it's a safe way to get through a horde without disturbing any of them." Hunted explains. "Just… breathe in through your mouth."

He dug his hands inside the corpse, having a disgusted look on his face, before he began to cover himself with the blood of the dead walker.

"Trust me. It masks your scent." he says. "Everyone, cover yourself with blood."

With that said, and with much hesitation, everyone began to cover themselves with the walker guts, slowly enveloping the majority of their body.

While they were covering themselves with walker guts, the Timberwolves were too busy being pushed back towards the factory, slowly trapping them.

After a while, the prisoners were all covered in walker guts and emerged from their hiding spots. "Walk slow and be quiet. Don't draw attention to yourselves." Hunter informs them all.

He suddenly began to walk towards the wide open gates where walkers were spilling in. However, there was an opening for the survivors to walk out of there. Slowly but surely, they began to slowly walk towards the entrance, being extremely careful to not bump into any walkers and refraining from speaking at all times.

"What about Joey?" Joe was the first to break the silence.

"Be quiet." Jaren tells him.

"We gotta look for Joey."

"Joe. For cryin' out loud. Shut up." Bernard tells him in a quiet, hostile tone.

"I'm worried about him."

"For Christ sakes! Shut the hell up!" shouted a prisoner.

At that moment, a walker came out of nowhere and plunged it's teeth onto the prisoner's face because he shouted in the crowd. He screamed in horrific pain as he fell to the ground, knocking over another prisoner. The second prisoner bumped into a walker as she fell to the ground. She gasped as she saw a huge horde of walkers surrounding her, eventually devouring her alive.

Hunter looked behind him and widened his eyes to see the other survivors getting eaten. He, however, turned his head around and continued to slowly walk away from the gates.

* * *

Camryn and Matt continued to go as fast as they could through the halls of the factory. During the trip, Matt continued to grunt in discomfort because of his wounds.

"Es tut höllisch weh! Ich brauche einen Sanitäter! (It hurts like hell! I need a medic!)" Matt spoke in German.

"Stay with me, Matt!" Camryn told him. "We're almost out of here! Are your wounds open?"

"Aah! Some of 'em are! Verdammt!"

"Shit." Camryn whispered. "We can't use the walker guts trick if your wounds are open. You'll get infected for sure."

"Is there any other way to get out?" Matt asked.

"No. The front entrance is the only entrance." Camryn answered.

"What about guard towers?"

"We don't have them. Easy targets for hidden snipers. We just have ledges on the side of the wall for the guards to patrol the outside perimeter."

"Then that's how we're going to escape." Matt says. "We get on those ledges and jump the wall."

"Are you kidding me?! Those walls are at least 15 feet high! You'll die for sure in your condition!" Camryn warned him.

"I've been in worse. Just get me to the side exit of this damn building. You have no idea how badly I want to burn this place down."

"You and me both." Camryn says. At that moment, the sound of a door opening before slamming shut echoed in the hallway, alerting the two. "Fuck. That could be one of them."

At that moment, a person appeared around the corner and turned it, revealing them to be Joey Krikowski, the deaf survivor.

"Joey?" Matt asked.

Joey's eyes suddenly widened as he walked towards Matt. "Who's he?" Camryn asked, not seeing him before.

"He was part of the group that got captured by your trenchcoat asshole friend." Matt replied, referring to Jericho. "He's deaf. He can't hear us."

"Great. How are we supposed to communicate with him?" she asked.

"Joe's his translator."

"Joe? You mean the guy out there along with the rest of the escapees."

"Apparently. This is the first time I'm hearing about these 'escapees'." Matt reveals.

"What do we do with him?" the girl asked.

"We're taking him with us. He's deaf. He's scared. He has no idea what's going on. We gotta help him."

"If you know what you're doing." she replies

Matt turned to Joey. "Come with us." he says.

Joey nodded his head, understanding what he said thanks to him being able to read his lips. The three continued down the hallway as fast as they could, with one capable survivor, one deaf, and another critically injured. Eventually, they got to side exit of the factory, with Camryn kicking the door opened. As the three exited the factory, all they heard were loud growls and the screams of the Timberwolves at the front gates.

The three began walking towards the perimeter wall, where they could see the ledges built for the guards. However, they suddenly stopped as they looked below them, seeing a huge trench with dozens of walkers in them.

"What the f-... Goddamnit! You didn't mention a fucking trench filled with walkers!" Matt shouted.

"I'm sorry! I was too busy carrying you!" Camryn retorted.

Matt sighed afterwards. "I think we can still make it. Just as long as we grab the ledge." he says. "Camryn. You go first."

The Filipino nodded as she backed up a bit, wanting to get a running start. She then charged towards the trench and jumped at the edge, grabbing onto the ledge on time. She picked herself up as she was now on the guard's walkway. She turned around and extended her hand for Matt to grab on.

Matt however turned around and turned to Joey. "Joey. Go." he says, pointing to Camryn.

Joey nodded as he too backed up for a running start. He then charged at the trench and jumped at the last second, grabbing Camryn's hand as she pulled him up to safety.

"Alright, Matt, you're next." the girl says.

"Okay… Alright…" he heavily breathes.

He suddenly looked down at the trench below him, seeing the many walkers roaming around it. Matt blew out a breath of air as he turned to Camryn and Joey, preparing himself to jump the gap.

"I'm gonna count to three." he says. Camryn nodded. "1…" Camryn extended her hand out. "2-"

_**BONK!**_

Matt was suddenly knocked down by an unknown force, causing him to fall to the ground. Camryn gasped as Joey's eyes widened at the sight of Matt falling to the ground. The person responsible for this was none other than Jericho, whom glared at Camryn and Joey.

"Hello, Camryn." Jericho says in a villainous tone.

"Jericho." Camryn gasped.

Joey backed up, accidentally falling backwards and over the wall; Camryn glanced at where Joey once was before turning to the Timberwolf in front of her. There, she saw Jericho aim a Glock 17 towards her head, prompting her to quickly move out of the way. Jericho pulled the trigger, barely missing Camryn as she was able to jump off the wall in time before the bullet could even hit her.

Camryn fell to the ground with a thud, groaning in pain as she grabbed her head. She suddenly opened her eyes and widened them, seeing the malicious sight in front of her.

"Hoooooly shit." she says in terrified awe as she stood up.

Joey stood up next to her and also grew a pair of wide eyes; in front of them was a massive horde of walkers roaming around the area, with what appeared to be no way out of the vicinity.

The two were trapped behind a huge horde of walkers.

Over at the front entrance, Hunter and the rest of the other survivors continued to carefully walk amongst the crowd of walkers, now out of the line of sight of the Timberwolves fighting in the complex.

"Just keep quiet everyone. You guys still with me?" Hunter asked.

"I'm still here." Bernard responded.

Jaren suddenly turned around, suddenly terrified.

"Wait. Where's Melony?" he whispered.

"Keep your composure, Jaren. I'm sure she's alright." Bernard replied.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" a girly scream emitted from somewhere in the crowd.

"Melony?!" Jaren shouted. "MELONY!"

He suddenly ran into the crowd, not caring that he was grabbing the attention of the many walkers around him. Hunter and Bernard turned around, clearly afraid of the young man's well being.

"Jaren! Get back here!" Bernard shouted.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" shouted another girly scream.

The two turned around only to widen their eyes at the sight in front of them; in front of them was Cheryl fighting a walker whom was trying to take a bite out of her.

"We have to save her." Bernard says.

Hunter quickly ran towards her, raising his knife in the air, ready to attack the walker that was on Cheryl. He then plunged the knife into the walker's skull, killing it while also freeing Cheryl. However, because of the attack, Cheryl was bumped backwards into another walker, whom quickly took a bite out of her shoulder. She screamed in pain as Hunter's eyes widened as he saw his friend get eaten in front of his eyes.

He turned around in hopes of finding Bernard, only to come to the haunting realization that he couldn't find him anywhere. He was all alone in the massive horde of walkers; he looked everywhere only to see that all the walkers around him were coming in close to him.

He was surrounded.

Back over at the side part of the factory, Matt groaned as he slightly opened his eyes, his vision blurry. A figure suddenly stepped into his line of sight before crouching down. Matt looked up to see that the person in front of him was none other than Jericho, whom deviously grinned at Matt on the ground.

"You mess with the wolf, you get the fangs." Jericho tauntingly says.

He suddenly stood up and the last thing Matt saw was Jericho stomping the bottom of his boot on his face.

Then everything went black…

* * *

_"We are one, after all, you and I. Together we suffer. Together we exist and forever will recreate one another."_

* * *

**(Wow. This took a long time… Ok bye.)**


	3. Where Ends Meet

**(Disclaimer:...**

…

…

**ur mom gay)**

* * *

Matt was shown lying on the ground on his side, with his hands tied behind his back as scratches and bruises covered his face and the rest of his skin. He was badly beatened after the severe torture he went through earlier that day from Giovanni Murrdock. Muffled voices could be heard on the other side of the door as well as heavy footsteps, implying that some of the people behind the door were wearing heavy shoots, like combat boots.

Matt breathed heavily as he tried to ignore the constant pain he was in, but to no avail. His whole body ached and it felt like the tiniest of movements would hurt like hell and render him useless. Even just by lying down he was in constant, excruciating pain, though he managed to control his breathing and to keep his mind away from the pain, thus making it less noticeable.

At that moment, the sounds of footsteps could be heard approaching the door, prompting Matt to act like he was unconscious the whole time. He forced his body to go limp as he closed his eyes, feigning unconsciousness. As if on cue, the door opened, revealing two Timberwolves walking inside, whom both grabbed Matt's body and dragged him out of the room.

Another man was blind folded while his hands were tied behind his back, similar to Matt. Jericho stood in front of him, glaring at the man as he held a M1911 in his hand.

"It has been officially 3 hours since you and your asshole friends decided to pull this stunt of yours." Jericho scolded the blind folded man. "Luckily for us, we managed to close the gates and kill the rest of the walkers but do you know how many people we lost? At least twenty! Twenty souls were lost in the battle! If I could, I would shoot you twenty times but I have to preserve bullets for ammunition, you fucking prick."

Matt was suddenly pushed against a pillar by the two Timberwolves, ready to tie him against said pillar.

"We may have lost twenty good people including Murrdock. A close friend of mine." Jericho reveals. "But there's more of us. Last time Cyrus kept count, there were over 650 members of the Timberwolves. You were a prisoner for a reason, Jones. We kept you down there because you were hoarding rations. You know I've never seen anyone more pathetic than you and your little asshole friends. Those other guys are valuable. We could train them to become better Timberwolves so they won't break our rules anymore but you, you're not even worth the bullet."

"Come on, man! What are you-"

**BANG!**

**THUD!**

Matt flinched as he heard the gunshot followed by the sound of a body falling to the ground. Matt slowly opened his eyes a little to see the body of the survivor on the ground. The teen then noticed that his hands weren't completely tied all the way behind him, and seeing that the three Timberwolves, Jericho and the two whom were currently tying him up, still thought that he was unconscious, he knew this was the perfect time for an attack.

Matt lunged himself forward, pushing the Timberwolf in front of him towards Jericho. The Timberwolf crashed into Jericho, briefly pinning him against the counter of a table, before Jericho himself pushed the Timberwolf off of him and to the ground.

The second Timberwolf that was behind Matt got behind him and brought him down with him. The two crashed onto a table, completely breaking it in half. The Timberwolf prepared to get up, ready to attack Matt while he was on the ground, but the teen was quicker. Matt used all of his strength to kick the Timberwolf on the side of his face; because he used so much strength, Matt managed to snap the Timberwolf's neck upon kicking him in the face, instantly killing him.

Matt quickly got up only to be pinned against the wall by the first Timberwolf that Jericho pushed down earlier. The Timberwolf pinned him against the wall as he slammed Matt's head against said wall, briefly stunning him. Matt used all of his strength to try and get out of the Timberwolf's grasp, only for said Timberwolf to put him in a headlock. Matt tried to kick and squirm his way out of the Timberwolf's grasp, desperately trying to get free.

Jericho suddenly approached the two, holding an AK-47 in his hands.

"Fucking move!" he shouted at his ally as he aimed the rifle at Matt.

Matt saw the rifle aiming towards and used all of his strength to free himself from the Timberwolf's grasp. Matt managed to forcefully turn himself around, inadvertently opening the door that led outside in the process while the Timberwolf behind him let go of him.

"Move!" Jericho shouted.

**BANG! BANG!**

He shot two bullets at Matt's general direction, only for the Timberwolf to fall directly in the path of the bullets, getting shot in the back instead. The Timberwolf fell dead onto the ground as Jericho grew an annoyed expression.

"Fuck!" Jericho shouted as he accidentally shot one of his men.

Matt ran as fast as he could in the middle of the night, passing many Timberwolves whom were doing their own things. Some were drinking while some were resting from the recent attack. He even passed a group burning the corpse of the many walkers they managed to kill. As he sprinted across the courtyard, he caught the attention of the many Timberwolves in the area, confused as to why someone was running.

Matt immediately began climbing the ladder that lead to the guard's walkway that went around the perimeter fence. He eventually climbed it and wasted no time in jumping the perimeter wall, landing on the dirt ground below him. He quickly got up and continued to run into the dark forest. However, because it was so dark, Matt had no idea where he was going, but he didn't care.

He suddenly ran passed a tree branch, accidentally scratching and cutting his arm as blood began to drip from the recent wound. Matt grabbed his arm to stop the bleeding as he continued to run through the dark woods, jumping over exposed roots and ducking through low branches. He suddenly looked behind him to see if anyone was following him; much to his relief, no one was.

He suddenly ran into a clearing, revealing a lake that shined the midnight moon.

"Wait. Where's the road?" Matt asked out of breath. "Aw fuck! Damn it!"

"He's here somewhere!" shouted a voice, alerting Matt.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

"Where are you hiding?! Coward!"

"Look for anything out of the ordinary!"

Matt suddenly dropped down into some bushes, trying to hide from the search party. At that moment, a flashlight was shined at the spot where he once was, followed by multiple people. No doubt the Timberwolves.

"Cyrus wants him alive! When you find him, do _not_ kill him!" shouted a Timberwolf.

"Where's dat son of a bitch?" whispered a Timberwolf near Matt.

"I'm going to find you."

"You bettah show yourself, Cinderella! I'm starting to get angry."

Matt continued to hide in the thick bush as the flashlight shined all over the place, in hopes to finding him. He ducked his head as a light shined in the same bush he was in, effectively hiding from it.

"Ugh. This place is getting too crazy, even for me." complained a random Timberwolf.

A Timberwolf suddenly began to approach the bush that Matt was in, setting off multiple red flags in the teen's mind. His eyes widened as the Timberwolf suddenly stopped in front of the bush, thinking he saw him. In reality, the Timberwolf was merely looking _over_ the bush who just happened to stop right in front of said bush. However, Matt was unaware by this and was in desperate need of a distraction.

"Bitte sehe mich nicht. Bitte sehe mich nicht. (Please don't see me. Please don't see me.)" Matt whispered to himself.

He felt his hand gloss over a rock, which immediately set an idea in his mind. He grabbed the rock and carefully extended his hand outside of the bush, careful enough to not break any branches. He suddenly threw the rock at a tree behind the Timberwolf; the rock collided with the tree, making a _thunk_ sound, alerting the Timberwolf, indicated by him turning around, shining his flashlight at the tree.

"Hm?" he asked no in particular as he began to walk to the tree. "What da?... Hey! Whoever dat is… you bettah be a strippah."

Matt carefully exited the bush, though he still made some noise which camouflaged with constant branch breaking that the other Timberwolves were making. Matt then began to sneak up behind the Timberwolf who had his light shined at the tree, unaware of Matt sneaking up behind him. The teen carefully grabbed the knife that was in his holster and just as carefully pulled it out of said holster.

Eventually, he pulled the entire knife out of the holster, now having a weapon for protection. Right at that moment, the Timberwolf turned around, inadvertently shining the light right onto Matt. Both of their eyes widened for different reasons. Matt's were because he was caught while the Timberwolf's eyes were widened because he _caught_ Matt.

The Timberwolf opened his mouth to alert his allies only for Matt to place his hand over it to shut him up. Simultaneously, Matt plunged the knife right into the throat of the Timberwolf, causing him to gurgle on his own blood. The Timberwolf's eyes widened before he slowly, as well as in a weird way, peacefully closed his eyes, passing away from the world.

Matt retracted the knife as the body of the dead Timberwolf fell to the ground, creating an audible _thud_ in the area. The teen swung the knife in his hand to get rid of the excess blood on it, causing it to spatter all over the tree. He wiped the knife on the thigh of his jeans to get rid of the rest of the blood, before walking away. He was at a good distance away too before he heard one of the Timberwolves speak up in the dark.

"Oh shit. Hey!... Hey! Is dat a body?!" asked a Timberwolf.

"So much blood." said another Timberwolf.

Matt knew he had to get out of there and carefully jogged his way toward the lake to get some distance away from them. He carefully entered the water so he wouldn't splash and get their attention before diving under, also to try and not to splash. Matt swam underwater in the darkness, slightly afraid because he had no idea what was lurking in the deep.

Eventually, Matt crossed the lake and was on the other side of it, now back on the mainland. He turned around to see the multiple flashlights shining in the darkness, while various shouts could be heard.

"You think you are smart, Cinderella?! Escaping from me like dat?!"

"Come on out, Cinderella. I won't hurt you. I promise!"

"Damn it! He got away!"

"Keep searching! He's got to be around here somewhere!"

It was obvious that they had no idea that Matt managed to slip out into the darkness.

Blowing a sigh of relief, Matt turned around and began to walk away. As he walked away, he passed a sign that said LAKE NORMAN: HOME OF NORMIE on it; as Matt entered the forest in front of him, an unknown creature swam against the surface of the lake followed by what appeared to be a scaly tale and an ominous growl, before the creature swam back into the depths.

* * *

_Heya Tom, it's Bob… from the office down the hall…_

_Good to see you buddy, how've you been?_

_Things have been okay for me except that I'm a zombie now_

_I really wish you'd let us in_

_I think I speak for all of us when I say I understand_

_Why you folks might hesitate to submit to our demand_

_But here's an FYI: you're all gonna die screaming_

_All we want to do is eat your brains_

_We're not unreasonable, I mean, no one's gonna eat your eyes_

_All we want to do is eat your brains_

_We're at an impasse here, maybe we should compromise_

_If you open up the door_

_We'll all come inside and eat your brains_

**Infection of the Dead: The Other Side of Life**

* * *

"_Better to know the quick pain of truth than the ongoing pain of a long-held false hope."_

* * *

**3 HOURS EARLIER…**

Hunter breathed heavily as he looked all around him, seeing the many walkers walking passed him, still mistaking him as one of them because of the walker guts that covered his body. Everywhere he looked, he saw walkers just roaming the area as several shouts and screams could be heard from inside the Wolf's Den. All he could hear were various shouts and screams as well as the constant growling originating from the walkers.

"Bernard?" Hunter whispered, trying to keep his voice low. "Bernard. If you can hear me, answer back."

There was no answer except for growling; he cursed to himself as he began to walk back to where he last saw Bernard, closer to the Wolf's Den's gates. He maneuvered his way through the huge undead horde as he made his way towards the side, where there were trees. As he walked through the horde, he continued to hear various shouts and screams coming from the Timberwolves inside.

Even though he was covered in walker guts, Hunter still continued to examine his surroundings to make sure no walker would get the jump on him. His breathing was shaky as his jaw trembled in fear; he then suddenly heard groaning followed by someone shushing. He turned his head to the left to see a pair of legs sticking from behind a tree. Curious as to whom that may have been, Hunter began to walk his way toward the tree. When he got there, he saw two people: Bernard and Cheryl. Bernard was still covered in walker guts while Cheryl had a chunk of her shirt near the shoulder ripped followed by a bite mark.

"Bernard?" Hunter whispered.

Bernard jerked his head to Hunter, startled by his sudden appearance. However, he quickly calmed down as he realized it was just Hunter.

"I know what you're going to say." he says.

Hunter stared down at Bernard and gave him a sympathetic expression. "You-... You do know that once you get bit-"

"I know." Bernard interrupted him. "But I can't just leave her." Cheryl continued to breathe heavily as she hissed in pain, grabbing her shoulder. "She'll get eaten alive. I just want to get her somewhere safe, then I'll take care of her."

Hunter had trouble trying to find the right response, contemplating on whether or not he should leave them or help them.

"Aw shit." he whispered to himself. "Help me get her up. What the hell. She still has time, right?"

With that said, Hunter grabbed Cheryl's arm as Bernard helped her up; they stood up as they began to walk, only to immediately stop as they stared in front of them. There, in front of them, was a huge clump of walkers coming from the dark forests as they continued to growl loudly. Bernard and Hunter simply stared in horror at the terrifying sight in front of their eyes.

"Should we chance moving her?" Bernard asked.

Several growls could be heard; at that moment, Cheryl lifted her head up, having a weak expression on her face.

"Please chance it." she says.

* * *

Camryn and Joey backed up against the wall as they saw the huge horde walk by them, though granted for them they were at a safe distance for them to not notice the two. Camryn kept a calm composure, having been used to the walkers since the early days of the outbreak. Joey, however, thanks to his hearing loss, he was constantly looking around him to make sure a walker wouldn't get the jump on him.

"We should cover ourselves in their guts so that way we can pass through them without getting attack. When we're covered in their guts, they mistake us as one of them." Camryn explains.

She waited for a response from Joey but got none; turning her head, she saw that Joey was looking at the other side. She suddenly rolled her eyes at her incompetence. "I forgot. He's deaf." she says to herself.

She tapped on his shoulder, grabbing his attention while startling him in the process. She began making hand gestures on her arm as she pretended that her index and middle fingers were legs, walking along her arm. Afterwards, she flattened her hand and made a motion to the side. This however just confused Joey, indicated by the extreme confused look on his face.

Camryn balled up her fists, slightly angry that he didn't get what she was saying, before calming herself down. She suddenly bent down and began to write on the dirt to communicate with Joey. She then stood up as Joey read her message: WE SHOULD COVER OURSELVES IN WALKER GUTS. IT MASKS OUR SCENT.

Joey turned to her and gave her a worried look before he bent down to write his own message.

ARE YOU SURE THAT EVEN WORKS?

Camryn turned her head towards Joey, whom did the same; she nodded her head, affirming their safety. Joey, however, was skeptical but didn't have a choice in the matter. He gulped as he nodded his head as well, agreeing to the plan. The two turned their attention to the horde, which was still walking pass them; at that moment, they turned their heads to see a walker walking towards their direction, though it didn't seem to have noticed them. Camryn brought out her knife from her back pocket and readied it.

She then approached the walker and stuck the knife right into its skull, instantly killing it. She then began to drag the body towards Joey who had his back up against the wall. Without hesitation, Camryn stuck the knife into the gut of the walker and began to disembowel it, much to her disgust. She held her breath as she cut open the torso of the walker, slowly revealing its inner organs.

She suddenly let out a huge breath of air, no longer able to hold her breath. She then began to pull out the intestines of the walker as she began to rub them onto herself.

"Ah! Just like what I thought!" she exclaimed in disgust. "Rotten food in here. Walkers are like sharks. They'll eat anything as long as it's alive." She turned around. "Come here." she told Joey, motioning to herself.

Joey hesitantly walked up to her and bent down as she continued to cover herself with the guts. She finished rubbing her arms as she turned to Joey, having a huge clump of organs in her hands. Joey made a face of disgust as he held his breath, sticking his hand inside the dead walker. He began to cover himself with the walker guts while Camryn continued to do the same.

She suddenly tapped on his shoulder to get his attention; when he gave her his attention, she made a circle movement with her finger, indicating for him to turn around. He turned around as she began to spread the walker guts on his back. Eventually, his whole body was covered in walker guts as he returned the favor to Camryn, wiping guts on her back as well.

She suddenly grabbed his hand to make sure he didn't get lost, before eventually going into the huge horde of the undead. Soon, the two disappeared amongst the huge horde of walkers, which was still migrating it's way into the Wolf's Den.

* * *

**PRESENT TIME…**

Bernard and Hunter, whom were mostly clean due to the walker guts falling off their bodies, continued to help Cheryl with her wounds. By now, they were far away from the Wolf's Den and were now in a forest clearing, with what appeared to be a church up ahead.

"There's the church." Hunter says.

"You think anyone made it?" Bernard asked.

"I don't know. We lost a lot of people back there. Cheryl's bitten, the other prisoner's died, I don't even know where Joe went. He just disappeared." Hunter says.

"What about Camryn, Matt and Joey?" asked Bernard.

"I don't know." Hunter replies. "Joey is back at the Timberwolf base and Camryn said she would try to help the kid escape. But like I said, the kid's tough. Toughest survivor I know. I'm sure he's alright. It's the other two I'm worried about."

"Yeah." Bernard confirmed. "We have no idea how good Camryn is at survivin' and Joey's deaf so he's gonna have a lot of trouble out there. I can only pray for him."

Cheryl began coughing as she spat out blood. "Let's head inside the church for rest." Bernard says.

"Good idea." Hunter agrees.

The two continued to walk towards the church, approaching the door; they opened the door before they immediately heard someone talking quietly. Down the aisle was a man on his knees with his head down, pray below a crucifix of Jesus.

"-our Lord, please grant my friend safety and strength for his survival. Please allow him to-" The man suddenly turned around, revealing himself to be Joe. "My prayers have been answered!" he exclaims. He takes on look at the three and noticed two things: Joey wasn't with them and Cheryl was hurt. "Well… most of them."

"She's hurt pretty badly." Bernard says.

"Is she…"

Joe didn't need to finish his sentence for them to know what he meant. Hunter closed his eyes and slowly nodded his head while Bernard grew a look of sadness.

"Oh no… What do we do?" Joe asked.

The two placed Cheryl down on the church bench, letting her rest on it as she fought the illness.

"She doesn't have much time left." Hunter says. "Once your bit, that's it."

"Have you seen something like this before?" Bernard asked.

"Once. Me and the kid were at this military base when we came across this woman who we didn't know was bit at the time. During the middle of the night, she turned. Don't know how long she was bit though."

"But how long were you with her before she turned?" Joe asked.

"A good five hours maybe but I have no idea when she died." Hunter explained. "Once you die, you don't immediately turn into one of them. It may take minutes, hours, maybe at most a day. I don't know."

Joe sighed as he looked down; the whole room went quiet as no one talked for the longest time. That is, until Bernard spoke up.

"This world is going to hell…" Bernard says grimly above a whisper. "and soon we _all_ will be if we're not careful with this 'infection' roaming around the place."

"Is anyone else coming?" Joe asked.

Hunter shrugged in response. "Most of the other prisoners either got recaptured or killed. I don't know where Camryn, Joey and the kid are. We got separated from Jaren and his sister during the escape. I just hope they're okay."

"Me too, youngin'. I'm praying for them all." Bernard says.

Cheryl suddenly coughed violently before she laid her head back on the bench, her breathing still heavy.

"We should keep moving." Bernard says. "Try to at least find a place to stay. We can't survive out in these woods. We need a home. A community. One that ain't like the Timberwolves."

"Do you know any?" Joe asked.

Bernard, unfortunately, shook his head in response. "Nah." he said before he heavily sighed afterwards. "But we gotta at least try, right?"

"Trying is all we can do nowadays." Hunter responds. "But its the only plan we have. Who knows, we may meet up with other survivors. People who aren't crazy like the Timberwolves."

"But what about the others?" Joe asked.

"We'll find them. You listening to me. We're gonna find him. The kid's got resources. I've seen him use a fooking fork to gouge out the eyes of a walker one time."

"How old is he?" Bernard asked.

Hunter shook his head. "I don't know. Kids these days look older than they are. Knew a guy who looked to be 25. He was well over six feet. You know how old he was? 15. Kid wasn't even old enough to drive."

"Well I hope he's safe. Matt that is." Joe says.

"Yeah." Hunter agreed as he looked out the open church doors. "Me too."

* * *

Matt carefully roamed the early morning fog infested forest as he held his arm where the branch cut it earlier. He looked all around him, not able to see anything or anyone. He was sure that he was completely alone in the forest, not even seeing a single walker in the vicinity. He continued to walk through the empty forest, passing a tree with a piece of paper stapled to it. On the piece of paper was a crude drawing of a black figure with a white face standing, a tree to the left of the figure, and the word FOLLOWS written downwards to the right of the figure.

"Helloooo! Anybody hear me?" Matt called out to get anyone's attention.

He waited for a response but didn't get one, prompting him to continue walking through the forest.

"Hello! Where'd you go? Marco!... Marco! Is anyone there?" Matt called out once more.

Once again, he didn't get a response. He sighed in defeat as he decided to just stay silent while he continued to roam through the forest. He suddenly turned his head just in time to see a silhouette of a large looking creature with big feet. Said creature grunted as it walked away, startled by Matt's sudden presence; Matt grew a confused look on his face.

"Did I ju-... Nah." Matt immediately shot the idea out of his head.

He quickly went back to roaming the lonely forest, trying his best to find a clearing and to get the hell out of there. He continued to look all around him to make sure he wasn't being followed as well as to make sure there were no walkers near him that would sneak up on him.

"Das ist ein Höllenloch. Das ist ein Höllenloch. Warum gehen die Schmerzen nicht einfach weg? (This is a hellhole. This is a hellhole. Why won't the pain just go away?)" Matt grunted in pain to himself in German.

Eventually, his wish came true; he found himself a clearing with a huge field and a road, as well as another factory.

"A factory? Are you kidding me? Everywhere I go, I manage to always end up at a factory… Is the world trying to tell me something?" he asked himself.

He decided to not question it seeing how the whole field was empty and began to approach the factory, slowly yet surely. As he was walking towards it, he couldn't help but grunt in pain due to his recent wounds.

"Ugh. I haven't felt this way in a long time." Matt says to himself.

* * *

Elsewhere in the same forest, Camryn and Joey were busy going on their own adventure. It's been hours since they last saw a walker and by now, the walker guts they were once covered in have completely disappeared off their bodies. Most likely falling from their long trip. The Filipina had a tired expression on her face while the deaf survivor was constantly looking all around him to make sure no walkers would sneak up on them.

"I'm tired… I'm hot… No wait, just tired." Camryn complained.

She suddenly looked up and grew a surprised look, with Joey bumping into her from behind. He looked ahead of her to see a figure leaning up against a tree, with a walker roaming around not far from it. The figure was revealed to be Domino, whom was busy flipping a coin in the air before catching it.

"Took you guys long enough." Domino says with a carefree smile on his face.

"What the hell. I thought we agreed to meet up at the church?" Camryn asked.

"We did… I never said I would meet up with you guys." he retorted.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Camryn shouted.

"Shhhh. We're in a forest." Domino cheekily says, smiling innocently afterwards. "Let me ask you something: if a tree fell down in a forest and there was nobody around to hear it fall, does it make a sound?"

Camryn grew a confused expression on her face. "What?" she asked, obviously baffled by the odd question.

"The answer: Yes… and no." Domino replies. "Yes, because everything makes a sound. No, because no one was there to witness it. It's like doing an impressive act when nobody was looking. You did it but nobody saw it."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Camryn asked, slightly angry.

Domino shrugged. "We're in a forest." he casually replies. Camryn continued to shoot him a confused look. "Look, I don't expect you to get most of the things I say, but what I hope that you _do_ understand are two things. One: The world is dying, and sooner or later, we're gonna either be apart of the dead… or the undead."

"And what's the second part?" Camryn asked.

Domino merely smirked at her. "Turn around and find out." he says.

Camryn raised an eyebrow before doing what he said; as soon as she turned around, she came face to face with a walker that managed to sneak up behind them. The walker growled as Camryn screamed in horror, backing up while knocking down Joey in the process. Quickly thinking, she grabbed a weapon that was tied to her belt and pushed the button. When she pressed the button, the weapon extended itself, revealing that it was Matt's shock prod.

She quickly jabbed the shock prod into the walker's forehead, stabbing it. She then pushed the button to turn on the electricity of the shock prod, however, nothing came out. Her eyes widened as the walker extended it's hand to try and grab her. She used all of her strength to force the shock prod into the brain of the walker, destroying it while successfully killing the walker.

She retracted the shock prod out of the walker as it fell dead on the ground, it's lifeless eyes staring up into the sky. Camryn panted as she stared at the corpse of the dead walker as Joey sat up as he too stared at the dead walker. Domino, behind them, merely smiled at their small victory as he flipped the coin in the air, catching it afterwards.

"Nice shock prod. Too bad the batteries are dead. Is it yours?" Domino asked.

Camryn turned to him. "No." she replies. "It's Matt's. Jericho had us take their weapons when we captured them. I guess I just never got the chance to put this with the rest of the weapons. I need to get this thing recharged once I find some batteries to power it up again."

"You gonna keep it?"

"Until I see Matt, yes."

"Let me see." Domino reached out for the shock prod.

Camryn retracted the shock prod away from Domino's grasp. "Nope." he says.

Domino chuckled as he smiled at Camryn. "You barely even know him and yet you're already taking care of his things. Like a true wife."

"If I barely even know him, how can I be his wife?" Camryn asks.

"Love works in mysterious ways. You may never know who your soulmate is, especially in this world as it is." Domino explains.

Camryn shot him a confused glare. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asks.

Domino shrugs. "Told you you wouldn't get most of the things I say." he says. "Come on. We're gonna get eaten alive out here if we stay here. Let's head to the church. I'm pretty sure the rest are already there…" he suddenly stops before he turned his head to Camryn. "_Pretty sure_." he says once again, putting more emphasis on the sentence.

Domino began to walk away while Camryn gave him an unsure expression; Joey, meanwhile, got up from his recent fall.

"I hope you're wrong." she says quietly as she and Joey began to catch up to him.

* * *

Matt opened the broken factory door of the abandoned building, seeing nothing but old machinery and dampened lights that only the early morning sun gave out. He immediately began to examine the area, trying to find out if he was all alone in the factory or if this was someone's home.

"Hello?" he called out. There was no answer. "If anyone is in here, don't shoot. I'm already injured. No, I'm not bitten, just really wounded… I'm just gonna walk forward."

With that, he walked forward as he began to explore the abandoned factory; as he explored the factory, he saw multiple bottles on the conveyor belts, some with liquid inside while some where empty. Matt grabbed a random bottle and sniffed it, growing a confused look, not knowing the smell. He decided to take his chances and take a small sip of it. He immediately groaned in disgust as he shriveled up his face.

"Ugh. Whiskey…" he says.

He stood there for a few moments before casually taking another sip. He turned his head to see a rag over a railing; he approached the rag and grabbed it, examining how dirty it was. Thinking nothing of it, he stuffed the rag into his pocket as he continued to explore the abandoned factory, taking another sip out of the whiskey bottle.

* * *

Hunter and Joe carried Cheryl whom was in and out of consciousness at this point while Bernard kept watch on the three. They walked on the lonely, empty trail in the forest in desperate need of a rest stop. It was only a matter of time before Cheryl would become one of them after all.

Cheryl coughed up some more blood. "I don't think she has much time left." Joe says.

"We gotta find a safe place. We've _got_ to." Hunter says.

"Have you guys decided who should… you know… put her out of her misery?" Joe hesitantly asked.

"I should." Bernard speaks up. "I've known her for a long time, since before the outbreak. I should be the one to get my hands dirty. It's only the right thing to do."

"You're an honorable man, Bernard. I respect you." Hunter comments.

"Thank you, son." Bernard replies.

The three continued to walk on the empty trail while two of them continued to help their injured friend. For a brief moment, silence passed over them, until they heard something in the distance. Voices.

"If we just walk on this path and continue heading east, we should be fine." said a male voice.

"What about the others?" asked a female one.

The group stopped, recognizing those voices. Hunter and Bernard turned to each other while Joe turned to Hunter, who in return turned to him after glancing over at the middle aged African-American next to him.

"We'll find them… eventually."

"Jaren?" Bernard called out.

There was silence for a few seconds/

"Bernard?" called out the voice.

"Jaren! We're over here!" Joe shouted.

At that moment, the sounds of bushes rustling along with running footsteps could be heard; the group, sans Cheryl who had her eyes closed and unconscious, turned to their right to see figures running towards them. Eventually, those figures came into focus, revealing themselves to be Jaren and Melony Simpson. The group grew huge smiles to see their friends alive and well.

"Oh thank God you two are alright!" Bernard says as he approaches the two.

He gave the two teens bear hugs as the two hugged back, happy to be reunited with their friend. "Ooooooh! You don't know how glad we are to see you, B!" Melony says, a smile on her face.

"We thought we lost you guys." Jaren adds.

"What happened back there?" Hunter asked. "One moment you were fine then I heard a scream and next thing I know, Jaren is running a marathon to God knows where."

"I was in trouble." Melony started explaining. "I got my foot caught by a walker on the ground so I screamed unintentionally."

"I ran over to help her." Jaren adds. "Killed that damn walker and got her out of there. I'm just glad that she's alright. I'm also glad that you guys are alright as-"

Jaren stopped his sentence as his eyes laid on Cheryl, who had her head hung low while Hunter and Joe supported her. However, he noticed one thing off about her: there was a bite mark on her shoulder. His once happy expression turned into one of pure shock as Melony grew a shocked expression as well.

"No." Jaren whined. Melony had tears in her eyes as she looked away. "Nohohooo…" By now, Jaren was silently crying. "No. You can't be serious."

Hunter closed his eyes as he slowly nodded his head. "It happened during the escape." he explained.

Jaren covered his face as tears ran down his cheeks; his sister however walked away, unable to take in the bad news.

"This is going to hell real fast!" she exclaimed.

"Not Cheryl." Jaren says. "We've known her since the early days."

"I know what you're going through, youngin', and it ain't pretty." Bernard says. "It sucks. Cheryl doesn't deserve to die."

"Cyrus does." Jaren says in a venomous voice.

"Hey, come on now. Don't be doing that. Don't you be wishing anyone dead now, you hear me?" Bernard asks in a soft voice.

"Why? He's the reason why this happened!" Jaren shouted.

"Cyrus may be a bad guy but that don't make it right to wish someone dead. Wishing someone dead is just as bad as murdering them."

"That's not the same!" Jaren shouted.

"Jaren, calm down."

"No! It's not fair that Cheryl is dying because of that bastard!"

"Jaren, god damnit! Shut up!" Melony shouted, startling everyone, especially Jaren. "I'm sad too but yelling isn't gonna do you any good."

"She's right you know." Hunter says. "The only thing we can do is try to find her a place to stay then do what we have to do. Or in this case, have Bernard do what he has to do."

"You mean you're gonna…" Jaren didn't dare to finish his sentence. He got his answer by Bernard simply nodded. Jaren sighed as he briefly looked down, before glaring up at Bernard again. "Fine. But don't come crying to me when you want Cyrus dead."

With that, Jaren walked away, with Melony following close behind. "Kid holds so much anger in him." Joe says.

"His father abandoned them when they were kids and they saw their mother die before the outbreak." Bernard explained. "He's been protecting Melony ever since. She's all that he has left. I guess he saw Cheryl as a mother to him."

"I can understand that." Joe says. "I saw my students as my own kids… I miss teaching." Joe says, sadness in his voice.

"I miss ghost hunting." Hunter says also in a sad voice.

"I miss Vietnam." Bernard says.

Hunter and Joe slowly turned their heads to Bernard, giving him confused looks; knowing he would get a reaction from the two, Bernard turned his head to the other two whom were staring confusingly at him.

"Served in the Cold War." he quietly says as he turns his head back.

Hunter and Joe didn't know what to say and decided to nod their heads. "Cool." Joe quietly says, not even knowing the proper response to the odd comment.

* * *

Matt walked into an empty office of the factory drinking the bottle of whiskey along the way. After realizing he drank the whole bottle, he carelessly threw it behind him. The sound of the bottle shattering could be heard afterwards. He began to examine the empty, run down office, trying to find anything useful; he turned his head to the cabinets and noticed a red box.

Intrigued by the box, Matt walked towards it and grabbed it, revealing it to be a first aid kit. Matt stared at the box unemotionally before taking a look at his arm, noticing the wound on it. He glanced back at the box before opening it. After a while fiddling with the first aid kit, Matt successfully patched his wound up, no longer having to cover it up with his arm.

"Alright, now I'm back." Matt says to himself.

He then suddenly turned his head to the office desk, where he could see a little bit of something pink sticking out from behind it. Wondering what was so pink, Matt decided to approach the desk where he looked over it, seeing a big pink elephant plush toy sitting on the old, withered leather office chair. Surprised to see a toy sitting randomly in an abandoned whiskey factory, Matt raised his eyebrows slightly before walking away.

He made his way out of the office as he leaned over the rails, overseeing the empty factory filled with unused machinery and bottles filled with whiskey. He decided to take a minute and just relax, finding the abandoned, quiet factory strangely peaceful. He inhaled a huge breath of air through his nose before exhaling out of his mouth, absolutely loving the smell of old machinery and old whiskey.

Matt suddenly hovered his hand over the rag that was in his pocket, realizing that he still had it. His eyes suddenly took notice of an empty bottle lying on the ground next to him. He bent down and grabbed the bottle as he began to examine it, since he had nothing better to do. He glanced over to the rag than at the bottle, then at the rag again. At that moment, an idea formed in Matt's head, as a devious smile grew on his face.

He rushed back into the office where he began to frantically search the several drawers and cabinets to find a certain item. After he looked in the top drawer of the office desk, he found what he was looking for: a lighter. He turned it on to test if it still had a flame and to his luck, and joy, there was a flame. Matt turned around and smiled deviously at the factory floor behind him, impatient to get his plan into action.

Down below, Matt grabbed several bottles of whiskey and several rags that were scattered all over the place. There he placed the rags inside the bottles before lighting one of the rags up. Matt successfully created a molotov as a smile formed on his face. He quickly made his way towards the exit where he threw the molotov out into the field, creating a small patch of fire burning the dead grass. Matt inhaled a huge breath of the burning air before exhaling out.

"I love the smell of fire and smoke." Matt says before he closed the door.

Matt walked back into the factory where he entered the office; there he placed the many molotovs on the office desk. He moved the pink elephant out of the office chair and placed it on the desk, taking the elephant's spot. There, he leaned back in the chair and rested his feet on the desk, holding a bottle of whiskey in his hand. A small, triumphant smile appeared on Matt's face as he leaned back on the chair.

"I love this factory." Matt says to himself.

He took a sip out of the bottle and swallowed it; his attention turned to the pink elephant plush toy next to him, where he placed the tip of the bottle to the elephant's mouth and pretended that it was drinking it.

* * *

Camryn, Joey, and Domino continued to wander aimlessly around the empty forest, not having seen a walker in about an hour. Both Camryn and Joey had tired expressions on their faces while Domino had a carefree expression, indicated by having his hands behind his head.

"You know, if you ignore the zombies and the constant chaos… today is actually a beautiful day." Domino says. "The sky is cloudy and the breeze is just nice. Really refreshing."

"I wish I had your optimism, Domino because all I can see how this day is gonna turn out is complete disaster." Camryn replies.

"That's not a healthy mindset." Domino says. "You need a healthy mind in order to retain a healthy body."

"Matt doesn't have a healthy mind and he seems healthy to me… I mean, granted he did get tortured by Murrdock but other than that, he seemed like he was in tip top shape."

"Really?" Domino asks.

Camryn took a moment to think about what she said, realizing she was wrong. "Actually, that's a lie. He was saying how he was going to die and he looked pretty beat up when I rescued him." she says.

"One hides inner pain through outer expressions." Domino quoted.

"Who said that?" Camryn asked.

Domino turned around and smiled at her. "Me." he says.

Camryn sighed through her nose as she looked down, having a melancholy expression on her face. "I'm worried about him."

Domino asked, "Why?"

Joey suddenly began making hand gestures with his hands.

(I have no idea what they're talking about.)

"Because he was beat up when we left him and he got captured by the Timberwolves again." she started to explain. "We shouldn't have left. We should've have gone back for him."

"Camryn, Camryn, Camryn." Domino repeated in a calm tone. "If you were to go back, I guarantee you wouldn't have come back. A wise man once told me that if you were to search for someone, chances are you would end up finding something else. Something that you would've been alright not knowing."

"Who's the wise man?" the Filipina asked.

"My dad. Rest his soul." Domino replies.

"I'm sorry to hear that. You have condolences." Camryn says.

"It's fine. It's been 8 years now." Domino explains.

"How old are you?" she asks.

"Older than you." Domino said in a smart ass remark. He suddenly began to chuckle. "Come on. There's a cabin near here we can use to rest."

"How do you know there's a cabin?"

"Because I've been in these woods before."

Joey suddenly turned around, still checking if anyone was following them. "Does anyone live there?" Camryn asked.

"Not that I know of." Domino replies.

"So we could be invading someone else's home?" Camryn asked, giving Domino an unamused look.

"Yep." Domino replied nonchalantly.

"You do realize how dangerous that is, don't you?" Camryn asked.

"Ah chill. The owners are probably dead, in some evacuation center, or wandering the streets as survivors or zombies." Domino replied. "Besides. It's only a rest stop to get back to health. After we have our stay, we'll be back out on the road searching for your friends. Specifically Matt."

"Why him specifically?" Camryn asked.

"Well you seem to harbor feelings for him." Domino replied.

"I just met him. How can I have feelings for him if I don't even know him that well?"

"You seemed concerned about his general well being." Domino explained.

"Yeah, because the guy was inches away from death. Any normal person would be worried about that."

"You make a point." Domino says.

Camryn waited for another response from Domino, but got nothing. Instead, he continued to walk on the path in front of them. "That's it?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"'You make a point.' That's all you're going to say? Nothing witty or anything smart ass related?" Camryn asked in disbelief.

"Not everything I say comes from the mouth of a smart ass." Domino replied, somewhat in an irritated tone. "Anyway we're here."

Camryn looked in front of her to see their destination; Joey however bumped into her from behind because he was looking back. There, in front of the three survivors was a single story wooden cabin with the windows boarded up. Both Camryn and Joey stared at the cabin with unsure expressions while Domino nonchalantly walked up to the front door; the two eventually caught up with the mysterious survivor, who began to wiggle the doorknob.

"Locked." he says.

"Is there any other way in?" Camryn asked.

Domino turned to her and shot her a mischievous yet reassuring smile. "There's going to be." he simply says.

"What do you mean by that?" she asks, slightly afraid.

Domino grabbed the knob and placed his shoulder against the door; with all of his strength,he forcefully pushed the door, successfully breaking it. Domino carelessly walked inside the cabin, with Camryn and Joey staying outside, cautious of what was inside.

"Hurry it up." Domino says from the inside.

Joey gulps as he was the first of the two to step inside; Camryn turned around to look at the forest behind her, both unsure and scared about her friend's whereabouts and current condition.

She then entered the cabin, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Matt walked through the office, examining the remnants of the previous world, such as photos of families, various tools and nic nacs, even a portrait of the owner of the factory. The teen took a sip of the bottle of whiskey in his hand as he began to examine the portrait of the man who first owned this factory. However, his name was ripped at the bottom, only revealing some letters: WTF.

At that moment, through Matt's eyes, the portrait suddenly violently and quickly shook as the man in the portrait suddenly turned into a zombie version of himself. His clothes were ripped as he had a cut bleeding from his head while he had no eyes and pale skin. The office wall also turned to a different color while it also stared to bleed blood from the ceiling. As quickly as the hallucination started, it just as quickly ended, causing Matt to blink multiple times just to regain his composure.

Unsure if he was in reality or not, he looked all around him, noticing that everything else was back to normal. Even the pink elephant plush toy was still on the office desk. Matt grew a confused, yet scared, expression on his face as he turned to the bottle of whiskey he was just drinking. He suddenly began to pour the rest of the whiskey on the floor, deciding that it was enough for one day.

* * *

A newspaper was on the cabin table, with the front article reading: Famous Motocross Champion, Mr. Greene, Set To Arrive In Vegas For Tournament

Camryn walked passed the coffee table as she approached Domino, whom was busy looking through the creeks of the boarded up windows. "Are you sure this place is safe?" she asked.

Domino continued to peer out the creeks of the boards. "We're in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. There's no such thing as safe." he says. Camryn shot him an annoyed look as she opened her mouth to say something. "We're as safe as we can be." Domino stops her before she could even get a chance to speak. "Besides. We're not here to stay. We're just here to rest."

"And where are we going afterwards?" Camryn asked.

This time, Domino turned around to face the Filipina. "To search for your friends." he says. "Isn't that what you want?"

"Well, yeah, of course. I'm worried about them." Camryn replies.

"Despite meeting them not even a week ago?" Domino asks.

"Look, I was a caring girl with a normal life before the outbreak. I was average in school. Had average grades. I even had a boyfriend. My life was normal until all this started. So yeah, I care for the well being of strangers." Camryn retorts.

"Including the Timberwolves?"

"Hey, let's not get crazy here."

Domino chuckled as he began to walk away from the windows. "You're a funny girl, Camryn McCalski. A weiiiiiird girl." Domino says.

"Wait. How do you know my last name? I never told you it." Camryn asks suspiciously.

"I overheard Cyrus talking about it." Domino replies.

"How would you- You were in-... Huh?!" Camryn asked, effectively confused.

"Just don't question it." Domino responds as he walks into the other room.

"I'm gonna question it." Camryn affirms as she follows him. "I'm gonna question it because that is scary that you know my last name."

"If it helps, I never told you my last name." Domino replied.

"Yeah you did. Your last name is Domino. First name Bay." Camryn reminds him.

"Yeah but who said that was my 'real' name?" Domino asks. "I said you could 'call' me that. Not that it was my name."

"So what _is_ your name?" Camryn asks.

"It's in my name." Domino simply responds, shooting her a cheeky grin.

This only confused Camryn more. "What?!" she asked out of utter confusion.

"Just pay close attention to my name and you'll get what I mean. Sometimes things aren't what they seem. You just need to move things around a bit in order to get the answer you are looking for." Domino explains.

With that said, he left the kitchen that he and Camryn were discussing in, leaving behind a confused and angry Filipina survivor behind. "You know you're getting more and more vague with each minute I'm with you, don't you?"

She didn't receive an answer.

"Domino?" she called out again. She grew a look of pure annoyance. "Hey! You better not be hogging the bathroom! I need to use it as well!"

With that, she went after Domino, leaving Joey in the living room by himself.

* * *

Bernard carried Cheryl on his back with Joe and Hunter walking beside them as they walked down the lonely, empty forest trail; Jaren and Melony were walking a little ahead of them, having a conversation of their own. Cheryl groaned in pain as she was getting weaker and weaker by the minute.

"I'm sorry this is happening to you." Hunter tells Bernard.

"Thanks." Bernard replies. "She and I knew each other before the outbreak you know. Old family friends. She used to watch over my kids and me and the misses went out on dates."

"Are your kids…" Hunter didn't want to finish the sentence, hoping Bernard knew what he was getting at.

"Nah. They're all grown up." Bernard replies.

"Oh. That's good. Do you know where they are?" he asked.

"My daughter moved to Oregon a while ago. One of my sons lived here when it all started but he got on one of the evac choppers during the early days. My other son… I'm not so sure where he is." Bernard explained.

"Are you worried about them?" Joe asked.

"'F course I'm worried. A parent is always worried about their children. All I can do is pray for their safety." Bernard says.

"You're a praying man as well, huh? At least I'm not alone." Hunter comments.

"'Though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death, I will fear no evil.'" Bernard quoted.

"I like the way this man speaks." Hunter says.

"What about your wife? Did she… You know… Turn?" Joe hesitantly asked.

"Naw. Cancer. Before the outbreak. Probably a good thing too because I wouldn't want her to live in this world as it is now." Bernard suddenly sighed heavily. "But I do miss Sandra."

"You have my condolences, Bernard." Hunter says.

"'Life is for living, not mopin'. Sandra told me that the day she was diagnosed." Bernard reveals.

"Your wife was wise." Joe says. "We all need advice nowadays. Something inspirational."

"Like what?" Hunter asked.

"Well…" Joe began to ponder for a moment.

"Have we caught anything?" asked a voice from afar.

The group suddenly stopped walking as the heard the sudden voice.

"No, not yet." replied another voice.

Hunter and Bernard turned to each other, both having expressions of disbelief on their faces.

"Well let's check the other traps." said the first voice. "They may have caught a few."

"I've been wanting some barbecue for so long. You kind of get tired of all the fruits and vegetables the community's been growing."

"Are those Timberwolves?" Hunter whispered.

"I don't know." Bernard replies.

The group began to make their way to the origin of the voices, sneaking over to them so that way they wouldn't alert them. They all hid down in some foliage and spotted two survivors, one of whom was checking a homemade trap by a tree. The other one guarded the first one, keeping an open eye out for anything that would sneak up on them. Both of the survivors had weapons of some sort. The one that was guarding the other one had an AK-47 in his hand while the one that was checking the trap had some sort of knife in his holster.

"They don't look like Timberwolves." Jaren says.

"How can you tell?" Joe asked.

"Timberwolves wear leather clothing with some form of red clothing to identify themselves. They also have like these homemade, customized weapons that looks like they combined two weapons into one… Also they talk funny." Melony whispers.

The group continued to observe the two unknown survivors in the distance.

"Are they hostile?" Joe asked.

"Hey, I need a hand here." said the first survivor.

The second survivor turned around and placed the rifle around his back; he bent down as he grabbed onto something the first survivor was holding onto.

"Count of three. 1. 2… 3!"

They suddenly began to pull on the unknown object, causing it to rip out of the ground. The two fell backwards as the first survivor threw whatever they just pulled over to the side, carelessly.

"These roots are killing my hands." says the second survivor.

"Yeah, well these roots are also killing our chances for any sort of meal." the first survivor replies.

"They don't sound hostile." Bernard whispers.

"Yeah, well you can never be sure." Jaren whispers back.

Joe suddenly moved forward to get a better look at the survivors, inadvertently as well as accidentally breaking a branch that was on the ground. The sound of the branch snapping alerted the two survivors as they immediately armed themselves, with the first survivor grabbed his AK-47 while the other one pulled out his knife, revealing it to be a kukuri.

"Did you hear that?" asked the first survivor.

"Walkers?" asked the second survivor.

"I don't know. I don't hear any growling."

Jaren turned to Joe and glared at him, shooting daggers at him. "Nice going, Joe. You fucked us up." Jaren aggressively whispered at him.

Melony slapped her older brother on the shoulder out of anger.

"I'm sorry." Joe whispered back.

"Maybe it was just an animal?" questioned the first survivor.

"God! I hate doing these searches out here! It's so creepy and scary! I'd rather just stay inside the gates." the second survivor complained.

"We need to get out of here." Hunter whispered.

At that moment, Cheryl groaned in pain as she began to move around, creating some noise. The two survivors turned their attention to where Hunter and the rest were hiding, having heard Cheryl's groans.

"I heard a growl!" the second survivor exclaimed.

"It's probably just a walker. Don't disturb it." the first survivor says.

"Jason should've been the one out here."

"We can't just leave now. We have to show ourselves." Hunter says.

"Are you crazy?! That guy has a gun!" Jaren whispered at Hunter.

"We have to. They already know we're here." Hunter replies.

"If you're sure, then go for it." Bernard gives the go away.

Hunter gulps as he mentally prepares himself; the survivors continued to scan the area when suddenly Hunter cleared his throat to grab the two's attention.

"Ahem. Hey!" he shouts, getting their attention. The two suddenly rapidly turned to his direction as he raises his hands over the bush before he slowly revealed himself. "Don't shoot." he says.

"Who are you?!" the second survivor asked in a panicked tone.

"Don't shoot. Okay? I'm not armed…" Hunter thought about what he said, realizing his mistake. "Actually I am but it's for the walkers."

"How long have you been in that bush?" asked the second survivor.

"Not that long." Hunter answered. "We heard voices so we came to che-"

"Wait! Wait! Hold on. We? Who's we?" the survivor asked.

Hunter sighed, realizing his blunder; he suddenly turned to the bush he was hiding in. "You guys can come up now." Hunter tells the group.

One by one, the survivors slowly revealed themselves from the bush, which only scared the armed survivor even more.

"AAH! There's more of them! We're outnumbered!" the survivor shouted, clearly panicked.

His colleague however shot him an annoyed look. "Louis, you have a gun." the first survivor tells his friend in a calm manner.

The man now formally known as Louis looked at the AK in his hand, as if he had just realized it was in his hands in the entire time.

"Oh yeah, that's right." Louis says, earning an eye roll from his ally. Hunter and the group shot each other confused looks at the man's sudden change of behavior. "Back! Get back all of you! I will shoot! You hear me?!" Louis shouted at them as he aimed his AK at the group.

"Louis, you're making yourself look stupid. Just stop." the survivor says.

"But… But they-"

"Louis." the survivor says in a stern manner.

Louis gave a disappointed look mixed with sadness. "Okay." he sadly says.

"What the fuck?" Jaren asked, completely and utterly confused at the two random survivor's behaviors.

"Yeah. They are definitely _NOT_ Timberwolves." Bernard stays, still staring at Louis with a bewildered expression.

"Are you guys… Um… I don't know how to ask a proper question." Hunter says in a confused manner.

"Forgive Louis' inhospitality. He's um… panicky." the survivor says.

"I think that's an understatement." Melony says.

"Are you guys friendly or are you here to raid us?" the survivor asked. "Because if you're here the raid us, we have nothing on us except just Louis' AK and my kukuri. We don't have food or anything on us whatsoever."

"We're not here to rob you guys." Bernard says. "We need help."

Cheryl suddenly groaned, earning the unnamed survivor's attention. "Is she alright?" he asked, slightly concerned.

"She's bit." Joe nonchalantly replies.

Jaren suddenly punched Joe in the stomach, causing him to grunt in pain as he grabbed his gut, falling on his knees.

"You idiot! Why would you just blurt that out like it was nothing?!" Jaren aggressively scolded him.

"Well they asked!" Joe defends.

The survivor raised his eyebrow while also retaining his 'don't care' expression. "For how long?" he asks.

"Uh… I don't know. Maybe a few hours. Give or take. It happened last night… Or early in the morning." Hunter reveals.

"And you've been traveling with a bit survivor?" the survivor asked. Hunter's grew went speechless, realizing how dangerous the situation looked like to the other two. "You guys must really value her if you're willing to travel with her."

"She's really close to us." Bernard says.

"Look, we just need a place for her. That's all." Hunter says. "We just want to get her somewhere safe so we can do the deed."

"And you're asking us if we know a place?" the survivor asked.

Hunter glanced over to Bernard before glancing over to the other guy again. "Uuuuh-"

"Because a matter of fact, we do know a place." the survivor reveals. "I mean, it's not up to me but if you guys are telling the truth we'll be happy to get you somewhere safe. How long have you been out in these woods?"

"'Bout a couple of hours." Bernard replies. "We just escaped from another group in all honesty."

"Are you telling the truth?" the survivor asked.

"Yeah." Hunter responds.

"Is she the only one infected?" the survivor suddenly asked.

"Wha- Uh. Yeah. She's bit." Bernard replies.

"Are you sure?" the survivor asked cautiously.

"Boy, I've been covered in puke, blood, eyeballs and twenty other parts I don't even recognize. We are alive as shit." Bernard reassures.

"Alright. If you say so." the survivor says. "Well we were just out here checking out the traps until we met you guys. I'm Jake by the way. You already _met_ Louis." Jake says, pointing to his colleague.

"Hey." Louis says.

"Hi." Joe replies, waving his hand at him.

"Just follow us back to our group but if you guys are lying we will shoot you and kill you." Jake replies, his voice suddenly now having hostility in it.

"I guarantee you we are not going to hurt you guys." Hunter replies.

Jake squinted his eyes at the group, as if he didn't trust them, which was understandable. "Lay your weapons on the ground." Jake ordered.

Hunter suddenly threw his knife onto the ground… and that was it. Jake eyed the knife on the ground before looking up at Hunter, having an unamused expression mixed with annoyance on his face.

"_All_ of your weapons." Jake clarifies.

"That _is_ all of our weapons." Hunter reveals.

"You're telling me you've been out here with a wounded survivor with just a hunting knife?" Jake asks, clearly skeptical of their explanation.

"If it helps, it's not my knife." Hunter replies.

"How does that benefit us at all?" Jake asked.

Hunter remained quiet, unable to think of anything properly to say. "I don't know." was all he said.

Jake rolled his eyes in response. "Louis, check them." Jake replies.

"Yes sir." Louis salutes as he approaches the group.

"Don't call me sir." Jake replies, lidding his eyes.

Louis began to pat down the group, checking if they had any weapons of some sort. He patted down Bernard, Hunter, Jaren, Joe, and carefully patted Cheryl as she was being held on Bernard's back. He suddenly stopped at Melony and hesitated.

"Uh, she's underaged. I don't think I'm allowed to-"

"Just check her, Louis." Jake says.

Louis gulped as he bent down behind Melony. "I'm sorry in advance." Louis whispers in her ear.

"Don't be. I'm kind of excited to be honest." Melony replies, giving an enchanted smile.

Louis grew an uncomfortable expression. "This feels wrong." he says as he patted Melony down.

"It feels right to me." Melony responds, lidding her eyes as her enchanted smile grew.

Hunter, Bernard, and Joe gave uncomfortable expressions as they eyed Melony in bewilderment. They suddenly began to step away from the Simpson siblings while Jaren gave his little sister a look of disapproval as well as a look of disgust at the same time.

Louis suddenly stood up and gulped, having an uncomfortable expression on his face. "She's clean… Metaphorically."

"They're not armed?" Jake asks.

"Nope. They were telling the truth. That's all they have." Louis responds, pointing to the knife on the ground.

Jake glanced at the knife before glancing over to the group. "Alright then." Jake says, shrugging his shoulders. "Come on. Follow us. But I will warn you, our leader may not be with the idea of having a bitten survivor in our group."

"Don't worry. I'm gonna be on constant surveillance for her." Bernard says. "I want to spend as much time with her as possible. She's a really good friend of mine."

"You have my condolences." Jake responds, showing a hint of kindness in his voice.

With that said, Jake and Louis began to walk back as Hunter and the rest followed them. "At least we're heading to somewhere safe." Hunter says.

"Let's hope they're not like the Timberwolves." Bernard replies.

As the group followed the newly met survivors, a shadowy figure walked through the shadow of the bushes, stalking the group as the leaves rustled in the wind.

* * *

The tip of the bottom of a broom hit a smoke detector on the ceiling. The tip jabbed the metal detector once again before it came undone, causing it to come crashing down onto the hard floor below. The smoke detector shattered into several pieces as Matt picked up the part of the smoke detector that made noises as he brought it over to the office desk.

On the desk was a homemade pipe bomb that he managed to build during the time he was in the factory alone. However, because there were limited supplies, he could only build one pipe bomb. But he made a bunch of molotovs to cover up that weakness. The pipe bomb he made had a red LED light attached to it as the taped the smoke detector on it. That way, the flashing red light and the sound of the smoke detector going off would alert any walker in the vicinity before it would eventually blow up and kill the walkers around it.

"Just like mom used to make." Matt says to himself as he stared at the pipe bomb on the desk with a smile on his face.

Matt took off his jacket and tied the sleeves around his neck as he taped the sides of his hood to the jacket itself, creating a homemade baby carrier. He suddenly grabbed the pink elephant plush toy and placed it in the hood of his jacket. He tightened the hood so that way the pink elephant wouldn't fall when he was walking; he began to caress the head of the pink elephant as he planted a kiss on it, petting it some more.

"You're my new best friend, Barleycorn." Matt says to the pink elephant to which he named Barleycorn. "Now come on. Let's go destroy some zombie ass. That sounded wrong but who cares? I have molotovs."

Matt suddenly kicked the front door open of the factory opened as he stepped outside. He immediately sniffed the air which was polluted by the smell of smoke and burning grass.

"I'll never get tired of smelling smoke and flames." Matt says to himself.

With all his equipment ready and multiple weapons at his disposal, as well as Barleycorn which was strapped into his hood around his torso, Matt began to walk away from the factory as he began his search for his friends; he walked away from the burning grass which eventually lit the entire factory on fire. Matt continued to walk away from the factory as the whole factory erupted in fire. At that moment, the fire must've lit some sort of flammable items inside as the factory suddenly blew up right behind Matt, though he did not turn around as he continued to walk away from the factory, having a triumphant smile on his face as he did.

* * *

Joey sat on the cabin couch as Camryn was looking through the cracks of the boarded up windows, checking the perimeter for any walkers. At that moment, a bag of chips hovered next to her as it began to shake, grabbing her attention.

"Look at what I found. They haven't gone bad yet." Domino says next to her.

Camryn eyed the bag for a moment before grabbing it; she stuck her hand in the bag and took a chip, taking it into her mouth. She began to chew as she nodded her head in agreement.

"You're right. These haven't gone bad." she says. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Domino replies.

Camryn turned to Joey and waved the bag in front of his face; he turned to the bag and grabbed a chip, eating it right then and there.

"So how do you reckon on how you're going to find your friends?" Domino suddenly asked.

Camryn continued to eat the chips as she pondered on the question. "I don't know." she answered truthfully. "I was just kind of hoping that I would wander around and eventually I would find them."

"Sounds like a horrible plan." Domino says.

"For once, I agree with you." Camryn replies. She then suddenly sighed afterwards. "I'm just worried about them. Especially Matt. He was seriously injured when I rescued him."

"You seem to care a lot about him."

Camryn glared at Domino. "Yeah. Like I said, he was injured." she says.

"Or it could be love at first sight." Domino suggested.

"Yeah. I don't believe in love at first sight." Camryn reveals as she ate another chip.

"I didn't believe in Normie the Lake Monster until I saw him at Lake Norman back in 2010. Made a believer out of me." Domino responds.

Camryn chuckled. "I actually did a school project on Normie one time." she reveals.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." she confirmed. "It was for my sixth grade English class. I had to do a project on current events and I decided to do mine on Normie. Ms. Regius gave me a C- on that project."

"Ah screw her." Domino replies. "I happen to like Normie. Ever since I saw him, I was fascinated with him. Would go up to the lake every night just to try and spot him again."

"And did you?" Camryn asked.

Domino chuckled in response. "Nah." he says. "But it was always fun just staying out there hoping he would show up."

"Weren't you disappointed?" she asks.

"What reason? If I didn't see him one night, it just gave me another reason to go see him the next." Domino says.

"You're an odd man Domino. You know that." Camryn says as she eats another chip.

"My ex-wife loved that about me. Of course she loved her car more." Camryn offered Domino the bag of chips, to which he raised his hand in the air. "Nah. I'm good." he says. Camryn shrugged as she took another chip into her mouth. "You know, while I was still a prisoner for the Timberwolves, I overheard some survivors say that they came from a community where it was basically like 'heaven'. Maybe your friends are there?"

Camryn looked up as she chewed on the chip in her mouth. "You think so?" she asked.

Domino merely shrugged. "It's worth a shot, really." he says.

"Do you know where it is?" she asks.

"I don't know the exact location but I do know that they said it was west of an abandoned whiskey factory. We could head there." Domino explains.

"And what if we don't find my friends?" Camryn asked, shooting him a concerned expression.

Domino however merely smiled. "Then we keep searching. I'm not leaving you until you find your friends."

Camryn raised an eyebrow. "Why?" she asks.

"I have my reasons." was all Domino says.

Camryn shot him a skeptical look before pondering on the decision at that moment. "Well… It's our only shot, right?" she asks, smiling.

"That's the spirit!" Domino exclaims in excitement. "Now come on. Let's go find this factory."

With that said, Camryn finished the rest of her chips as Domino walked passed her, tapping on Joey's shoulder in the process. Joey turned around to see Domino waving at him, gesturing that they were leaving; Joey shot him an 'okay' sign as he got up from the couch. The mysterious survivor opened the door and walked outside as Camryn and Joey followed suit.

And thus, their search for the abandoned whiskey factory as well as Camryn's friends began.

* * *

An explosion was heard in the distance, causing Bernard and the others to turn around to it's general direction. There, they saw smoke flying into the air in the distance.

"Oh, I don't like the sound of that." Bernard says.

"You think those were the Timberwolves?" Joe asked.

"I don't know but I'm glad we're not heading down that way." Hunter replies.

"Come on. We're close." Jake tells the group as he and Louis continued to lead the group to their community.

Hunter and Joe walked next to Bernard who continued to carry Cheryl on his back while Melony and Jaren lingered behind them.

"Do you trust these guys?" Hunter asked Bernard.

"There ain't much trust left in this world but we sure as hell need a safe place for Cheryl here. I'll take anything." Bernard replied.

"Bernard, you do realize that Cheryl isn't coming back, right?" Joe asked. "I mean, she is but not in the way you'd imagine."

"Ah shut up, Joe." Bernard told him.

"I'm just saying that eventually we're gonna have to put her down." Joe started to explain. "I mean I understand you want to get her to a safe place because she's really close to you and because you think she deserves a beautiful place to die- Ooooooh. I get it now." Joe suddenly says in realization.

"It's official. You're an idiot." Jaren insults.

"I'm not an idiot. I was a History professor at a university." Joe remarks.

"Correction: You're an idiot with a PhD."

"That's an oxymoron, Jaren." Joe replies. "How can I be an idiot yet have a PhD in His-"

"Just shut up, Joe! You're getting on my nerves!" Jaren shouted in anger.

Joe pouted as he looked away from the young man. "No one ever respects a professor anymore. Eight years of college and three years out in the field and he calls me an idiot. Ignorant teen." Joe spits out.

"I spent half a year in college and I got into the ghost hunting field." Hunter says.

"I didn't go to college." Bernard replies.

"Am I the only one who went to college in this group?" Joe asked.

"Yes." everyone replied.

"I guess that makes me the smartest." Joe says.

"Says the guy who mistook dynamite as a candle." Jaren retorts.

"I was in the dark! I couldn't see!" Joe defends himself.

"I think you're just really lame." Jaren says.

"I'm not lame!" Joe shouts in anger. "Hunter! Tell him I'm not lame!"

"To be honest, lad, you kind of are." Hunter responds.

"Yeah, son, you kind of are lame." Bernard adds.

"I've only known you for a few minutes but even I can tell you're kind of lame." Jake says. Joe whined as he grew an expression of sadness, feeling his heart being torn to pieces. "Well, we're here." Jake suddenly says, stopping the group.

Everyone, sans Jake and Louis, grew wide eyes and extraordinary surprised expressions as they looked up in awe. In front of them was a huge golden gate with a thick brick wall perimeter next to it. There was a sign on top of the gate that read "HEAVEN'S GATES. The group continued to stare at the community gates with surprised expressions.

"Is it really heaven in there?" Hunter asked.

"As heaven as it can get." Louis replied.

"Hey, Jake!" shouted a voice from above. The group looked up to see a man wearing a beanie standing behind the top of the wall. "Who are those guys?"

"They're survivors looking for a place to stay for their wounded friend." Jake replied.

"Are you sure they're telling the truth?" the man asked.

"I had them searched. They only had one knife." Jake replied.

The man went quiet for a brief moment as he continued to stare at Jake in silence. "Was it a cool knife?" he asked.

"Just open up the gates!" Jake shouted

"Opening the gates!" the man announced.

At that moment, the golden gates began to slowly open inwards, slowly revealing the rest of the community inside. The group continued to stare at the opening gates with wide eyes in awe with disbelief expressions on their faces.

"Alright, I'll admit. That's pretty heavenly." Joe comments.

"Follow us to the infirmary tents where we can put your friend to rest." Jake tells the group. Realization suddenly hit him after he said that. "I mean not in that context yet." he quickly adds.

With that, Jake and Louis lead the group inside the new found community, Heaven's Gates, as the gates closed as soon as everyone walked through them.

* * *

A walker roamed the lonely forest as it growled instinctively; meanwhile, Matt went unnoticed by the walker as he himself continued to roam the forest with Barleycorn strapped to his chest with his jacket.

"I spy with my little eye something that starts with W." Matt says to himself. "What's that?" he asked as he leaned his ear near Barleycorn. "You got it right again, Barleycorn. I mean we are surrounded by nothing but trees and walkers so it's kind of easy to play I Spy. Alright, your turn." he told the pink elephant plush toy.

Barleycorn continued to bob up and down as it was strapped to Matt's jacket around his torso. Due to it being an inanimate object, it did not reply back.

"W again, huh?" Matt asks, apparently hearing Barleycorn or just talking to himself. "Let me guess. Is it 'walker'?... No? What is it then?... Weapon? What do you mean weapon? There's no weapon… Oh, you're telling me I _need_ a weapon!"

He suddenly looked down to the ground before bending down; he returned up having a branch in his hand.

"There. Weapon problem solved." Matt says. He tilted his head to Barleycorn once more. "What's that? You want me to check out that old pharmacy to see if there's anything good in there? What are you talking about Barleycorn? There is no…"

Matt suddenly stopped talking as he looked in front of him, growing a surprised look in the process. There in front of him was a pharmacy on the side of the road he managed to come across. He continued to stare at the pharmacy with the same surprised expression on his face.

"Oh." Was all he said.

A walker suddenly snuck up behind Matt, extending its hands to reach for him. Matt, without even taking his eyes off the pharmacy, jabbed the tip of the branch into the walker's face behind him, killing it instantly. The corpse of the walker fell to the ground as Matt approached the road, ready to cross it and head into the pharmacy. He however suddenly stopped as he looked both ways, as if a car would come.

"You gotta look both ways. Otherwise you'll be roadkill." Matt says to Barleycorn.

He then crossed the road as he began approaching the pharmacy.

"Hey, I have a joke for you." Matt told Barleycorn. "Why did the chicken cross the road?... To get to the idiot's house."

Barleycorn said nothing due to it being an inanimate object.

"Alright, I have another joke for you. Knock. Knock." Matt starts. Barleycorn said nothing. "The chicken."

Matt suddenly began to wheeze as he slapped his thigh. "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Ahaaaaaaaaaaaa! I got you so good! Oh! Oh hahaha! You should see the look on your face! Oh, that slaps me on the knee!"

The teen continued to chuckle to himself as he approached the broken glass doors to the pharmacy.

"Knock. Knock. Who's there? Me. Abercrombie and Fitch! Haha!" Matt laughed as he walked into the pharmacy. All around him, the inside of the pharmacy was totaled as shelves were knocked down and several capsules were on the ground, pills spilling everywhere. "Wow. This place doesn't look sanitary at all. I give it a one star."

Matt suddenly looked down to Barleycorn.

"What do you mean you give it a two star?" he asked the plush toy. "This place sucks!" He then suddenly looked down to the ground. "Hey! An epipen."

He bent down and grabbed the epipen that was on the ground; he then began to read the label and instructions of said epipen.

"Grants you adrenaline." he read. "Hm. This could come in handy." With that said, he placed the epipen in his pocket as he started to examine the area. "Wonder if there are any pain meds here? I may need some if I get hurt."

Matt began to walk around the abandoned pharmacy in search of any medicine he may need. He began looking through pill bottles and throwing some away after finding out they weren't what he needed or they were empty. He hovered his hands over many bottles before it hovered over a crowbar carelessly lying on the floor below him.

"A crowbar?" he asked himself as he picked it up.

He glanced between the crowbar and the giant branch he took from outside. He shrugged as he threw the branch backwards, favoring the crowbar as a better weapon. His eyes suddenly noticed a pill bottle on a shelf in front of him.

"Pills here." he says as he grabbed it and read the name of the bottle. "'Ibuprofen. Treats mild fever and severe pain'…" he read. "Perfect. Grabbin' pills."

With that, he placed the pill bottle in his pocket and took a long breath. "Well. I think I have what I need. Anything you want Barleycorn?" he asked the plush toy. No response came from the toy. "We are not getting Chopper Motorcycle."

At that moment, the sounds of various items crashing in the back room could be heard, alerting the teen. He made his way to the backroom where he heard the noise. He opened the door and looked inside, growing wide eyes as soon as he saw what was making the noise. At that same time, he covered Barleycorn's eyes with his own hands, acting as if the plush toy was sentient.

In front of him was a walker of a small child that looked like to be the age of 8 or so. The child walker growled instinctively as it wandered around the backroom. It suddenly turned around, noticing Matt as it began to approach him. Matt grew an expression of sympathy as he looked at the child walker in sadness. He raised his foot in the air as he pressed it against the head of the child walker, stopping it in it's tracks.

"It never gets easier." Matt says in a heavy tone. "It may be a walker but it still feels wrong to hurt a child. Poor thing. He must've missed his parents. He was probably alone and scared, wanting his mom and dad." A tear suddenly escaped from Matt's eyes. "You poor, poor child."

The child walker continued to growl as it clawed on Matt's jeaned covered ankles.

Matt let out a heavy sigh. "I have no words to describe how… sad this is." he says to himself. "I can't begin to think if I was the parent and I found my son like this… I'm sorry, kid."

He suddenly kicked the child walker to the ground, landing on it's back. Matt approached the child walker and whipped out his crowbar, looking down at the child walker in sadness. The child walker continued to growl as Matt stepped on it's chest, stopping it from getting up.

"I'm sorry." he whispered to it.

He suddenly swung the crowbar onto the head of the child walker, splattering blood everywhere. He swung it a second time, getting more blood everywhere. He swung it a third time, completely bashing in the skull of the walker, successfully killing it. He looked at the corpse of the child walker in sadness, showing sympathy to the once small child.

"At least he's at peace." he says to himself. He sighs once more as he exited the backroom of the pharmacy. "Come on, Barleycorn. Let's go." he tells the pink elephant plush toy strapped to his chest in sadness.

* * *

Domino lead Camryn and Joey through the forest to help them in their search for their friends, starting with the abandoned whiskey factory. Joey continued to look behind them just because he was a deaf and couldn't hear anything. He was being more cautious if anything.

Camryn suddenly sniffed the air. "Do you smell smoke?" she asked.

Domino also sniffed the air. "Yeah. I do." he confirms.

They continued to walk through the forest until they got to an opening. When they did, their eyes went wide; Joey accidentally bumped into Camryn from behind once more before looking ahead, also growing wide eyes. In front of them was the old abandoned whiskey factory now on fire and partially burnt down.

"What the hell happened here?" Camryn asked.

"I don't know." Domino replies. His eyes turned to the side. "It seems to have originated from over there." he says as he points ahead.

Near the factory was a burnt patch of grass where smoke flew up into the air. The three ran over to the burnt patch of grass as Domino bent down to examine it.

"Hmm." he says. "Broken glass… Rag… This was a molotov cocktail." he says.

"Who in the right mind would make a molotov?" Camryn asked.

"Someone who obviously _isn't_ in the right mind." Domino replied.

Joey then suddenly began to make hand symbols, speaking in sign language.

(I don't like the looks of this. This place is creepy and it's on fire. I want to get out of here.)

"Your friend there is right. This place is starting to get kind of scary." Domino replies.

"Wait. You read sign language?" the Filipina asked.

"Took a class in college." Domino replies with a smirk on his face. "Now we found the factory, but that's not our main goal. Our main goal is to find a settlement _west_ of here."

Camryn waited for an answer only to not receive one from Domino. "Well?" she asked.

Domino turned to her and gave her an annoyed expression. "I don't know all the answers." he replies. Camryn rolled her eyes as she groaned in annoyance. "I can at least check the sun." He suddenly rolled up his sleeve, revealing a rolex watch. "Let's see. It's 1:16 in the afternoon… and the sun is… to the upper left side. Meaning…" he suddenly pointed behind them. "that way is East. So that means that way-" he pointed to where the sun was at. "-is west. Meaning that's where we need to go."

"You said that the settlement is west of the factory. You said you don't know where it is?" she asked.

"Exactly." Domino replies and confirms. "But I'm certain that if we continue heading west, we'll find the settlement one way or another."

"Let's hope so." Camryn responds.

With that, the three walked across the field, passing the burning inferno that was once the abandoned whiskey factory.

* * *

Matt roamed the lonely forest all alone with Barleycorn still strapped to his chest.

"59 bottles of beer on the wall. 59 bottles of beer. Take one down, throw it at your wife. Now you have… whatever number comes before 59 bottles of beer on the wall." Matt lazily sung in a tired voice. "Uh du nuh nununununuuuh. I forgot the lyrics of this song. I have no idea how to sing so I'm just improvising along the way." Matt continued to sing in the tune of Bottles of Beer on the Wall.

A walker suddenly appeared out from behind the tree ahead of Matt.

"Oh boy I see a walker over there. I'm gonna bash it's head." Matt sung in the same tune. "With this crowbar- You know, I'm just gonna stop singing."

Matt grabbed the crowbar and swung it hard against the walker's skull, killing it instantly. Staring at the corpse of the recently killed walker with an emotionless face, Matt couldn't help but feel like a part of him was slowly deteriorating away. Though he couldn't pinpoint what it was; he suddenly looked up to see that there was an abandoned red pickup truck on the side of the road.

Having no motivation to continue on and generally not feeling like moving along, Matt started to approach the pickup truck. He grabbed the handle and pulled on it, revealing that it was unlocked; he climbed inside as he closed the doors, locking all of them to insure his safety. Matt unstrapped Barleycorn and placed him in the passenger seat of the car, throwing his jacket in the backseat.

Matt sighed as he leaned his head against the driver seat he was on; he turned to Barleycorn sitting on the passenger seat as he sighed heavily once more.

"You know Barleycorn," Matt began. "my life has been nothing but constant pain and misery. I had parents that didn't even care for me and even abused me and now I'm thrown into this God ridden world. My mental state is just getting worse and worse each day…" He suddenly turned to Barleycorn. "You know, I've been thinking about what Cyrus said to me… and it scares me… Am I really lost? Do I _not_ have an identity anymore?... I don't know anymore… and I'm scared. I don't want to be like Cyrus but at the same time… I don't feel like I'm Matt Dillon anymore. I feel like… like I'm just a shell of my former self."

He suddenly turned to the window where he saw his reflection. "I don't even know who I am anymore." he says.

At that moment, a walker from the outside replaced his reflection as it growled at him, sliding its hands against the glass window to try and grab the teen inside. Matt paid no attention to it as he leaned his head back on the head of the driver seat.

"I can't even tell what's real and what's not anymore." Matt continued in a sad tone. "All the things I was told. All the things I have seen. Was it all real? Is the apocalypse real or a figment of my imagination? Am I dead and I'm just in hell?... I don't know anymore…" Matt turned his head to Barleycorn, who was still sitting on the passenger seat staring at Matt. The teen chuckled as he grabbed the pink elephant plush toy. "Who am I?" he asked himself. "I'm afraid I can't answer that now… Am I Matt Dillon… or am I… someone else?"

Matt laid his head against the driver seat as he closed his eyes for a brief moment. He suddenly opened them up again as he placed Barleycorn back on the passenger side seat. He suddenly ducked down below the steering wheel and began to mess around with the compartment. Barleycorn continued to stare at Matt as he the teen did his own thing. A few electrical sparks could be heard when suddenly the engine roared in power, signaling that it was up and running.

"Ah haaa!" Matt laughed as he brought himself up again. "I still know how to hotwire a car! I still got it! Take that you mealy mouthed bastards! Next stop, wherever the hell Hunter is!" He then turned to the gear shift to shift the car into drive, only to come to the stunning realization. "Damnit! It's in manual! How don't know how to drive a manual!... Well, time to learn."

He began to toy with the gear, causing a horrific noise to emit from the car; Matt cringed his face at the sounds. "Ohhh! I hate these sounds!" he grunted. "I hope this guy has car insurance." He suddenly turned to the walker outside his window. "Hey, buddy! You have car insurance?"

At that moment, Matt pressed the gear shift, causing the car to accelerate, scaring the poor teen as he left the walker behind.

"WOOOOOOOOOH!" Matt yelled in excitement. "Now we're getting somewhere! Now we're-" At that moment, the car suddenly began to slow down as the engine slowly died. "-out of gas." Matt finished.

He sighed in annoyance and defeat as the car officially ran out of gas, falling back into the driver's seat. "What a great five second drive." he said sarcastically. He looked behind him to see that the walker he left behind was no longer there, possibly having walked away. "At least the dead dumbass is gone." he says.

He leaned back onto the seat as he looked at the glove compartment. "Wonder if this guy has any whiskey." Matt says.

He then opened up the glove compartment and looked inside, widening his eyes at the first thing he saw. He reached inside and grabbed the object that caught his attention: a Glock 17. He placed the gun on the dashboard as he looked forward, thinking of something. He suddenly reached for his ankles and lifted up his pants, revealing that he had a Beretta M9 strapped to his ankle. He placed the Beretta M9 on the dashboard next to the Glock 17, before eyeing Barleycorn.

"I did tell Cheryl I had a hidden weapon somewhere on me." he tells the plush toy. "Here." he reached for the Beretta M9 and the piece of duct tape, strapping it to Barleycorn's arm. "You can have this." He smiled at the plush before growing a frown. "Oh don't give me that look. We all need a gun in our lives… Jesus Christ the South has changed me. Back in Germany, everyone was so carefree and didn't give a damn what happened. In Germany, no one worked on a Sunday. No markets. No clinics. Except for emergency services like fire stations, hospitals… the pigs."

He leaned back onto the seat as he turned to Barleycorn yet again. "Wanna leave this truck and go back on foot?" he asked the plush toy.

Barleycorn said nothing in return. Matt, taking the silence as a yes, grabbed the gun strapped plush toy and opened up the door. He then began to make his way down the road, still in search for his friends.

"Which superpower would you like to have? Hydrokinesis or teleportation?" he asked Barleycorn. He got silence in return. "Of course you would choose hydrokinesis." he says to the plush in an annoyed tone.

* * *

Domino, Camryn, and Joey continued to walk through the forest in search of the settlement the mysterious survivor told her about. "I'm starting to think this community you were talking about is complete bullshit." Camryn says.

"I did hear it from some other prisoners. But I'm with you until we find your friends." Domino replies.

"You still haven't told me why that's the case." Camryn tells him.

Domino gave her a knowing smirk. "Like I said, I have my reasons. Reasons that you may not get."

"And like _I_ said, you're an odd man." Camryn quips.

Domino chuckled as he lightly closed his eyes; he looked up and squinted, spotting something in the distance. "I think I see something." he says.

The three picked up the pace as they came into a clearing; both Camryn and Joey grew wide eyes at the sight in front of them while Domino chuckled, surprised himself at the sight. In front of them was the golden gates of the Heaven's Gates community; the gates shined in the sunshine as a glare appeared on the rims.

"Holy… crap." Camryn whispers to herself in awe as her eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

Joey began speaking sign language. (This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.) he says.

"I'll be damned." Domino says.

"Halt! Who goes there!" shouted a man in the beanie, the same man from before.

Startled by the man's sudden voice from above, Camryn flinched. "Uh. J-Just some fellow survivors looking for her friends." she says.

The man on the guard rails turned around and looked down, as if he was looking at someone. He then turned back to the Filipina down below.

"Are one of them African-American, one ginger with a small goatee, one blonde and bitten on the shoulder, two teenagers, one male, one female… and a lame looking dude as well?" asked the man.

"I'm not lame!" Joe's voice could be heard from the other side.

Camryn grew a confused look as she glanced around in confusion. "Uuum. I'm not sure." she says.

The man turned around and looked down. "Hey! I have an Asian girl, a plain looking guy, and a guy in a black jacket! Are these your friends?" he asked.

"Camryn?!" Hunter's voice was heard.

Camryn widened her eyes. "Hunter?!" she shouted back.

"Open the gates! Open the gates!" Hunter shouted from behind.

The gates slowly opened outward, slowly revealing the inside of the Heaven's Gates community. Eventually, the gates opened and the first faces that Camryn saw were Hunter's and Joe's. They both grew ecstatic expressions at the sight of seeing their friends alive and well.

"Holy shit!" Hunter shouted in excitement.

"Joey!" Joe shouted as he made a beeline towards his hearing impaired friend.

Joe clashed into Joey and gave him a massive bear hug, to which Joey returned as well. Joe began to caress the back of Joey's head as tears began to fall from his eyes.

"Oh my God! I'm so glad you're alive! I thought I would never see you again!" Joe sobbed despite the fact that Joey couldn't hear him.

Hunter and Camryn walked up to each other and gave each other a nice, warm hug. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm alright." she asks. "Where are the others?"

"Jaren and Melony are already in the community. Somewhere. Bernard…." he suddenly grew a saddened look.

Camryn's heart jumped when Hunter didn't continue. "What? What?!" she asked frantically.

Hunter sighed, preparing himself to deliver the bad news. "He's with Cheryl… she's been bit."

Camryn grew a saddened look. "Oh no." she says. "Poor Cheryl. How long?" she asks.

"Since the escape last night." Hunter suddenly looked back. "She's not looking well… I think this is her last hour. Bernard is with her at the infirmary tents. He was close to her since before the outbreak started. He considered her like family."

Camryn sighed heavily. "We'll give her a proper burial." she says.

"Indeed." Hunter responds in a heavy voice.

"What about Matt?" Camryn asks.

"I thought he was with you." Hunter says.

"No! I haven't seen him since he got captured by Jericho again." Camryn explains.

"You mean he's still at the Timberwolf base?!" Hunter shouted.

Camryn grabbed her head as tears threatened to pour out of her eyes. "Oh no. Oh no! No! No, this can't be true! We've gotta go back!" she shouted.

"We can't!" Hunter told her. "You saw how that place was back there! It was bloody chaos! We go back, we won't return! I guarantee you that!"

"That's what I told her." Domino speaks up. "I also told her that if she searches for one person, she'll find someone else. She was searching for this Matt character and ended up finding the rest of her friends."

"Shut up, Domino." Camryn tells him.

Domino widened his eyes. For once he was genuinely surprised at Camryn's actions. "I don't care. We _have_ to go back!"

Hunter groans in response. "Fine! But I'm going with you. But the moment we see the Timberwolf base, we go back. We are not setting foot in that shithole again, you hear me." he tells her strictly.

Camryn scowled at him, angry at his response. "Fine." she says in a firm tone.

"Well, I see you're off on another adventure. This is my leave." Domino says as he turns around.

Camryn turned around to face him as well. "You're not coming in?" she asked, confused.

Domino stopped and turned his head to Camryn, giving her a warm smile. "I have no reason to." he says.

"But… But you can stay here! Live with us! You've helped us escape! The best we can do is offer you a home!" Camryn argued.

Domino continued to give her a warm smile. "Sorry." he apologizes. "But I'm just not a group fellow…" With that, he turned around as he began to walk away. He suddenly stopped as he turned to face Camryn again. "I'm gonna miss you… I mean that." he says.

Camryn suddenly walked up to him and gave him a warm hug. "I'm gonna miss you too." she says above a whisper. Domino returned the hug. "You're a very mysterious guy, you know that… Thank you. I'll never forget you."

Domino gave a genuine smile. "I'll never forget you too." he says.

With that, the two broke their hug and stared at each other. "Stay safe." she tells him.

"You too." Domino replies. He sighs heavily as he looks at Heaven's Gates. "I better be leaving. I got more of the world to explore."

Domino turned around and began to walk. "Are you sure you don't want to stay?" Hunter asked.

Domino suddenly stopped yet again to face the four survivors, Camryn, Hunter, Joe, and Joey, shooting them a smile.

"No thank you." he politely denies. "I believe I spent enough time in communities of death."

With those final words, Domino turned around and walked away from the four, venturing further into the forest, never to be seen again. Camryn and Hunter stared at the direction where Domino disappeared, already missing him despite leaving seconds ago.

"Let's go." Camryn suddenly says. "We _have_ to find Matt."

Hunter turned to the two survivors behind him. "Joe. Joey." he called out. The two survivors turned to him. "Tell Bernard I'm going to look for the kid. I'm going to be back soon."

"I don't think he's going to notice." Joe replied.

* * *

"_He hasn't left Cheryl's side since we got here."_

Cheryl's chest rose up and down peacefully as she lied on the bed she was on. Next to her was Bernard, sitting on a chair while holding her hand. They were in one of the infirmary tents that were inside the community and were currently the only ones inside said tent.

"Bernard." said a turned around to see Jake standing by the tent's entrance. "Horatio wants to see you."

"I can't. Not now at least." Bernard replies.

Jake shoots him a sympathetic expression. "I understand what you're going through." he says. "I'll tell Horatio that you want to be with her until she… departs."

"Thank you." Bernard thanks.

"You have something to do the uh… the necessary?" Jake cautiously asks.

Bernard shook his head as a no, still having his eyes on the ground while a depressed expression was on his face. At that moment, an M1911 was placed on Cheryl's bed, getting Bernard's attention. He looked up to see Jake giving him a sympathetic expression.

"I've been in your shoes before." Jake tells him. "My little brother was bit and I never left his side until the moment he died… Had to stop him from turning right then and there… I buried him afterwards… It never gets easier. Not for me at least."

"Not for anyone." Bernard adds. He sighs as he grabs the gun. "Thank you, Jake. Means a lot to me."

Jake shoots Bernard a warm expression. "No problem." he says.

With that, he walked out of the tent, leaving Bernard with the dying Cheryl. Bernard turned to his long time friend, whose skin was getting paler and paler by the moment. He grabbed her hand and grasped it, caressing it along the way.

"I promise, Cheryl. I'm not going to leave your side." he whispers to her.

Cheryl continued to sleep soundly on the bed she was resting in, her chest rising and lowering peacefully.

"Bernard." said a voice.

Bernard turned around to see a man standing by the tent's entrance. Said man had golden long hair and appeared to be in his early 30's. He wore a nice gray wool overcoat with a black suit underneath. Underneath the black suit was a white buttoned up shirt with the two top buttons undone. He also sported a pair of blue jeans and black leather shoes. Around his shoulders as a nice gray knitted scarf; along with this, he was holding a cane with a nice silver skull on it

"Horatio." Bernard says as he stands up. "I thought you were in your office."

"I was." Horatio replies. "But I ran into Jake and he told me just now. I happened to be nearby. Look, I understand what you're going through, I really do. We all have people we love and sooner or later, it's either them or us. It never gets easier."

Bernard looked down in sadness, taking Horatio's words to his heart. "Well, I just came here to say that. I still want to speak to you so you can uh… be an official Heaven's Gate member."

With that, Horatio turned around and exited the tent, leaving Bernard to be with Cheryl. The middle aged African-American man turned back to his longtime friend and gripped her hand, continuing to caress it. "I'm sorry." he whispers to her unconscious body.

* * *

Hunter, Camryn, and a third person walked through the forest in search for their missing friend. The sky was partly cloudy as the trees stood up nice and tall as it blocked the rays of the sun above.

"You know, you didn't have to come with us… uh… actually. We never caught your name." Hunter tells the unknown man.

"Edward. Edward Moore. I used to be the main actor for The Vampires of Melancholia, Edwin." the man replied.

"I remember that show. My little cousin used to watch it." Camryn reveals. "So we got two TV show actors here. Nice."

"You used to be on television?" Edward asked Hunter.

"Sure did. I was the host of Academy of Really Good Ghost Hunters. Or ARGGH for short." Hunter explained happily.

"Never heard of it." Edward replies.

Hunter pouted as he faced away from the other actor. "Well I never heard of Vampires of Melancholy so I guess we're even." he mumbled in a whiny tone.

"So what does your friend look like?" Edward asked.

"Long black hair with a black hoodie with the sleeves rolled up and many bandages on his hands." Camryn quickly replied without missing a beat.

"Also very sarcastic, witty, and an overall pest but he means good." Hunter added.

"How can he be a pest but means good?" Edward asked.

"It's hard to describe." Hunter replied.

"So what if we don't find your friend?" Edward asked.

Hunter and Camryn stopped before turning to Edward, shooting him sad expressions. "Let's hope we don't come to that conclusion." Hunter says.

Edward raised an eyebrow as Hunter and Camryn walked away, continuing their search for their friend. Edward caught up with the two survivors as he helped them in their search. As Edward turned the corner of a tree, a walker suddenly snuck up behind him, grabbing his shoulder. He yelped in surprise as he turned around, only for his arm to get caught in the grasp of the walker.

Before he could react, the walker bit down on Edward's arm, causing him to scream in pain. The scream alerted both Hunter and Camryn as the former ghost hunter brought out his hunting knife. He lunged the knife into the temple of the walker, destroying the brain and killing the walker. The corpse fell to the ground with an audible thud; Camryn looked at Edward's bite mark which was slightly bleeding.

"Oh my God! Edward!" Camryn shrieked.

"It's fine. I'm fine." Edward replied in a suspicious happy tone.

"You're not fine! You're bit!" Hunter exclaimed.

"It's okay." Edward suddenly smiled at the two. "I'm immune."

Both Camryn and Hunter grew extreme bewildered expressions. "What now?" Hunter asked, utterly confused.

"Yeah. Me and the rest of the Heaven's Gates residents are immune to the virus." Edward explained.

"Bullshit." Camryn argues.

"No it's true." Edward says. "Horatio gave us all the serum when we first arrived here. He was a government scientist that created the cure to the apocalypse!" Hunter and Camryn turned to each other, not believing what they were hearing. "He can only cure people who haven't been infected yet. The walkers are lost causes and once you're infected without taking the serum, the only way to save you is to amputate the bite mark. But if you taken the serum and get bit, like I have, you're not infected! I'm alright, guys! Honest."

With that said, Edward walked off as he continued the search for Matt, leaving the two behind. Camryn and Hunter turned each other and continued to give each other confused expression.

"I d- I… What?!" Camryn spouted.

"I have no clue." was all Hunter said.

"This guy's off his rocker. I know that for sure." Camryn says. "In all zombie media, no one EVER successfully creates a cure! And now he's saying that their leader has one?! Isn't that suspicious?!"

"Camryn, I'm on your side. Chill." Hunter tells the teen.

"I mean he could at least cover the wound so it won't get more infected than it already is." Camryn says. Right at that moment, they heard a branch snap, alerting all three of them. "What was that?" she asks.

"Could be another walker. I'll take it out." Hunter replies grabbing his knife.

"Did I ever mention how much I hate forests?" asks a voice. "Well I'll say it again. I HATE forests! I'll say it again in German! Ich hasse Wälder!"

"Walkers don't talk." Camryn notes.

"Wait a minute." Hunter suddenly says. "Sarcastic tone. Dry voice. Slight, violent temper. Speaks German… Kid?"

"Barleycorn, you hear that? That's the sound of a lil' bitch." Matt's voice could be heard. Right at the moment, Matt appeared from behind some trees with Barleycorn strapped to his chest. "Oho! I guessed right! It was a lil' bitch! What do I win?!"

"Matt!" Camryn exclaimed in excitement as she and Hunter ran towards their friend.

"I win me?!... That makes no sense." Matt says in a dry tone.

He was embraced in a massive bear hug by both Hunter and Camryn, causing him to almost trip and fall, before regained his balance.

"Okay. Haven't been hugged like this since… never." Matt says in a serious tone with a slightly freaked out face.

"Oh my God! We were so worried about you, Matt!" Camryn exclaimed. "The last time I saw you was when Jericho knocked you out! How did you escape the Wolf's Den?!"

"I ran." Matt replies.

"Oh." Camryn says.

Hunter gave Matt a huge bear hug, clearly ecstatic to see his friend back and alive. "The last time _I_ saw you was two days ago! When were in Cyrus' office together! You have no idea how worried I was kid! But I knew you would've pulled it through!"

"I keep telling you, Spector. The only person who can kill me is myself." Matt tells him.

"That is so dark." Camryn replies.

"I'm a dark person." Matt shrugged, smiling a bit.

Camryn suddenly reached towards her waist, grabbing the shock prod that was connected to her belt. "I believe this belongs to you." she says as she hands Matt his shock prod.

Matt's eyes widened to see his long time weapon that he thought was forever lost. He grabbed it before smiling at Camryn.

"I thought I lost this thing ever since you and your little asshole friends captured us." Matt says.

Camryn shrugged. "I kept it." she says smiling.

Matt pressed the button which extended the shock prod before turning on the power. However, no electricity came up from the prongs, indicating that the battery was dead.

"You used up the battery." Matt says, slightly annoyed.

"I know. I'm sorry." Camryn apologizes.

"Ah, don't be. I've been using this thing for a while now. It was bound to die eventually. Just don't know where I can find more batteries." Matt says.

"Maybe you could upgrade it somehow? Like solar power?" Hunter suggested.

Matt stared annoyingly at Hunter for a brief moment while silence lumed the area before Matt started talking. "That's fucking stupid Hunter… so stupid it may work." Matt quickly added. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Hey! You found your friend, huh? I knew we'd find him!" Edward exclaims as he smiles widely at the three.

Matt shot him a blank look. "Who's this asshole?" Matt asked, pointing to Edward.

"He's Edward. He's part of a community we just recently found. Everyone else is there too." Hunter says.

"Edward Moore? Actor of that one vampire show?" Matt asked.

"Yes!" Edward happily confirmed, a huge smile growing on his face.

"I hated that show!" Matt harshly exclaimed.

Edward grew lidded eyes as he shrugged. "Eh. Everyone's a critic." he says.

"Is he bit?!" Matt shouted as he pointed to Edward's arm.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm immune. I've taken the antidote already." Edward explained.

"Wha-"

"Don't question it." Camryn interjects him.

"I'm gonna question the hell out of it." Matt replies.

"I have a question myself. Why is there a pink elephant strapped to your chest?" Hunter asked, pointing to the plush toy wrapped in Matt's jacket.

"Gentlemen, and Camryn, meet Barleycorn." Matt introduces his plush toy. "I found him at a whiskey factory that I burnt down."

"Wait, that was you?!" Camryn asked. "You blew up that factory?!"

"Cool guys don't look at explosions." Matt says smiling. He suddenly to Barleycorn. "Right, and cool elephants. I would never forget about you, Barleycorn. You're such a cool diggity dangity elephant. The coolest one in the safari!"

"Did he just talk to the plush toy?" Camryn whispered to Hunter.

"I knew he was unstable but I've never seen this side of him before." Hunter whispered back.

"So where is this community you guys speak of? Captain Matt-Beard and his trusty parrot Barleycorn are out searching for land to hide me treasure!" Matt exclaimed in a pirate accent.

"I think he lost it." Hunter whispers.

"Did he even have it in the first place?" Camryn whispered back.

"I can take you to our community." Edward says as he begins to walk away.

"Lead the way, scallywag! Argh and other pirate noises! Barleycorn! Squak for me!" Matt ordered his plush toy as he followed Edward. Barleycorn said nothing. "You're ruining the scene here, Barleycorn. You're ruining the scene."

Camryn and Hunter stayed behind for a brief moment. "So we have a guy who thinks he's immune and has taken this so called 'antidote' given by the leader of their community AND we have Matt who has snapped into insanity!" Camryn exclaimed.

"I don't think that's insanity. I think that's just… sad." Hunter responds. "He did go through a lot if what you said about him being tortured is true. Maybe this is just his way of coping with things…"

"Or maybe he snapped and is talking to a literal plush toy." Camryn says in a dry tone with lidded eyes.

"Just give him time to adjust. He'll be back to normal… I hope." Hunter says with uncertainty on the last part.

"Yeeah. I'm sure he will." Camryn sarcastically replied, skeptical of Hunter's hope.

* * *

Edward lead the three survivors back to his community. Seeing that this was the first time Matt even heard of, let alone see the community, amazed him. Though it was more of an uncertainty expression.

"Heaven's Gates? I feel safer already…" Matt says sarcastically. "Barleycorn doesn't like this place as well."

"He's a plush toy. He can't speak." Camryn tells Matt.

Matt covered the toy elephant's ears as he scowled at Camryn. "How dare you say that to Mr. Barleycorn! He is a wonderful friend and an even more wonderful listener." he tells her. He then began to pet Barleycorn's head. "Shhhh. Don't listen to the mean, hot girl. She doesn't know what she's talking about."

"Looks like you're the mean girl now, Camryn." Hunter whispers to the Filipina, smiling a bit.

"He called me hot. That's the first time anyone has called me hot before." Camryn said in awe with wide eyes.

"Don't get too excited, Camryn. He probably doesn't mean it." Hunter replies with lidded eyes.

"Halt! Who goes-"

"Open the gates, Mark." Edward interrupts the man in the beanie above.

"Awww. No one ever lets me finish my lines." Mark from above says.

At that moment, the gates began to slowly open as Edward lead the three survivors back into the community in front of them. As the four entered the settlement, the first thing Matt saw was an empty street with several houses on the side. Turns out Heaven's Gates used to be a neighborhood with suburban houses before the outbreak began. Many people walked through the streets while some were on their porches idling chatting.

"Okay, I'll admit I'm wrong sometimes." Matt says.

"Edward! You're back!" exclaimed a woman as she ran up to her. She however suddenly stopped as she noticed the bike mark on his arm. "Oh my God! Are you alright?"

"It's fine, Madeline. Just a lurker who snuck up on me." Edward explains.

"It's a good thing you took the antidote. Otherwise I would've been worried." Madeline replies. She suddenly squinted her eyes at him. "Edward, you're sweating."

Sure enough, sweat was pouring out of Edward's forehead as his face was slightly blushed. He wiped away some sweat and shook his hand.

"Oh. It was a long walk from where we found their friend." Edward explained. "I'd be lying if I said I'm not tired because I am." He let out an exasperated sigh. "I think I'm going to go get this patched up and lay down at the infirmary. I'm kind of getting tired."

"You better go rest up. I'll be with you in a second. Okay?" Madeline replies as Edward walks over to the infirmary tents.

"Where are the others?" Matt asked.

"Joe and Joey are off frolicking somewhere. I'm not sure where Jaren or Melony is. Cheryl and Bernard… well…" Hunter didn't dare continue.

"What?" Matt asked, wondering why his friend stopped. "Hunter, what happened?"

Hunter didn't respond right away. "It's best if you go find out for yourself." Was all he said before walking away.

Camryn turned to Matt. "Come on. I want to see her too." she said as she walked over to the tents.

"Would someone mind filling me in on this?" Matt asked out loud.

* * *

Bernard continued to caress Cheryl's hand as she laid on her deathbed, still peacefully asleep indicated by her chest rising up and down slowly. "Bernard." said Camryn as she and Matt entered the tent.

Bernard turned around and grew an irritated expression. "That's the third time someone did that." he says. He suddenly smiled as he got up. "Come here." He extended his arms as he brought both Camryn and Matt into a hug. "I was worried about you guys."

"Joey's here as well." Camryn reveals.

"I bet Joe was ecstatic to finally see him." Bernard says.

"He was. Practically ran a marathon to Joey."

"It's nice to see you too, Bernard." Matt says.

Bernard smiled down at Matt. "Boy, I've been worried sick abou-... Is that a plush toy?" he asks in genuine confusion.

Matt looked down at Barleycorn, whom was still strapped to his chest. "Oh yeah. Bernard meet Barleycorn. Found him in a whiskey factory, where I built-" He suddenly lifted up his shirt, revealing several molotovs strapped to his waist. "-these!"

"Are those molotovs?!" Bernard asked in shock.

"Yu-huh." Matt confirms with an innocent smile. "I also built-" Matt reached to the side of his waist and pulled out the pipe bomb he made. "-a pipe bomb as well!"

"Jesus H. Christ!" Bernard shouted.

"Holy- Fuck me!" Camryn shotued. "Matt! You built a bomb?! How did you build a bomb?!"

"Well obviously it's called a pipe bomb so I got some pipe, some explosive material and just… made it." Matt shot the two a smile.

"Boy! Do you have any sense in that brain?!" Bernard shouts.

"Shhhhhhhh! This is an infirmary." Matt whispers. He suddenly looked down and noticed Cheryl on the bed. "What happened to her?" he asked.

Bernard and Camryn turned to Cheryl lying on the bed; the older man's expression suddenly grew grim before turning back to the teen behind him. "She's bit." he says above a whisper.

Matt's eyes widened in response. "Oh mein Gott." Matt whispers. "How long?" he asks.

"Since last night's escape." Bernard replies. "She doesn't have much time left. As you can see, her skin turned pale and she's growing more tired and tired by the second."

The three watched as Cheryl continued to breath heavily on her bed. "Are you gonna… you know?" Matt asked cautiously.

"Yeah. It's only the right thing to do." Bernard replies. Matt sighed as Camryn grew a solemn look. "You two may want to go meet with Horatio. New members are supposed to meet the leader when they come in. It's what me and the others went through, 'sides Cheryl here."

Bernard sat back down in his seat as he grabbed Cheryl's hand again, returning to caressing it. Matt and Camryn took one last look at the two before they walked out of the tent and back onto the empty street. Behind them, Edward could be seen lying on the bed, sweat pouring from his forehead.

"I'm glad you're safe, Matt… Really." Camryn tells her friend.

"Thanks." Matt replies.

"I was worried about you."

Matt shot her a confused expression. "Were you now?" he asks.

"Yeah." Camryn confirms. "The last time I saw you, you were just knocked out by Jericho. I thought you got recaptured again… Did the Timberwolves…"

"No. They managed to hold off the horde." Matt answers. "Jericho said that there were over 650 members of the Timberwolves… Largest group I ever came across from. The most largest group before them consisted of at least 30 people. Including me."

"Where were you when all this happened?" Camryn asked.

"Georgia."

"Ah. So you're not from North Carolina, huh?"

"Nope."

"How was it over in Georgia?"

Matt sighed heavily as he ran his hand through his hair. "My neighborhood was a lost cause. Savannah was pretty much overrunned. The military bombed Atlanta." Matt answers.

"Do you miss Georgia?" asked Camryn.

"Hell no… Well.. kinda, really. I'm not sure how to describe my feelings towards the state."

"Didn't you grow up in it?"

Matt chuckled for a brief moment. "Nah." he says. "I was born in Germany where I was in an orphanage for 8 years before I got adopted and brought here to America. I'm not legally allowed to be in this country… I hope you're okay with that." Matt shot her a smile.

Camryn raised an eyebrow. "You're an illegal immigrant?" she asks.

"Mm hm. No green card. Granted it's not the only illegal thing about me." Matt says.

"What other illegal activities have you partaken in?" Camryn asks.

"Armed robbery. Theft. Drug dealing. Aggravated assault. Battery. Burglary. Larceny. Drug possession. Aiding and abetting. Illegal possession of a firearm. Arson. Kidnapping. Homicide, both first AND second degree. Manslaughter. Identity theft. Shoplifting. Vandalism… and jaywalking." Matt reveals.

"Jesus Christ." Camryn says in shock. "Were you ever in jail?"

"No. I should be though. Probably get the death sentence or sent for life. I'm not sure." Matt says.

"Are you… bad?" Camryn cautiously asks.

"I just revealed all my crimes. You tell me." Matt gives her an annoyed expression.

"No I meant… like… dangerous?" Camryn clarified.

"If you mean if I'm going to hurt you. No… I'm not." Matt says. "I'm not a bad guy… I just have bad luck, is all. My parents weren't really that nice to me."

"Yeah, you mentioned that in your cell the other day." Camryn says.

"Yeah. I'm glad they're dead." Matt says in a venomous tone.

"But still, you are a dangerous person to be around with." Camryn continues. "It's surprising that you never got caught with those crimes. You would think the police would be on you and everything. Granted it could have been from your parents abusing you so much and all but still, it's still a shocking discovery to hear when it's all suddenly revealed to you in not even a minute. How dangerous was your past anyway?"

"Hey, Camryn. Say seg." Matt orders.

"Seg?" Camryn says with uncertainty in her voice.

"Way. Where were you when all this happened?" Matt asked, quickly changing the subject.

"You two new here?" asked a voice.

Matt and Camryn looked in front of them to see that they arrived at a church with a guy standing by the front door.

"Yeah. We were told to see someone named Horatio." Matt answers.

"Yeah. Horatio is the leader of this community. He speaks to all new members to see if they're fit to live here. We've been getting quite a few new members actually. Here. Let me open the door for ya." With that, the man opened the church door. "Just step inside and go to the door to the left on the end. That's his office."

"Yessiree Bob." Matt says as he and Camryn approached the church.

"Also what's with the plush?" the man asked.

"Barleycorn doesn't want to talk to you." Matt replies, glaring at the man before entering the church.

* * *

The door to the church office opened as the two teen stepped inside. "Horatio?" Matt called out.

Horatio sat at his desk, polishing his cane, before he looked up, a smile appearing on his face. "Ah. You two must be the new members." he says.

"That we are." Camryn replies. "You wanted to see us?"

Matt and Camryn took a seat at the two chairs by the desk as they sat across from Horatio. Matt however glanced over at a radio sitting idling on the desk. "Yes, of course." Horatio says. "As you know, you two are new here. It's my job as the community leader to inspect all new recruits. So I'm just gonna ask you a few questions. That's all."

"Ask away." Matt says.

"Alright well first off, and this isn't part of the series of question, if you don't mind me asking: what's with the plush toy?" Horatio asked.

"His name is Barleycorn and he is my friend." Matt replies. "Found him at a whiskey factory before I burnt the place down." Matt briefly looked down at the plush toy before looking back up at Horatio. "Barleycorn says he likes your scarf."

Horatio shot him a confused look before glancing at Camryn, whom shrugged in response.

"Rrrrright. Well… onto the questions at hand." he says, still startled at Matt's absurd manner. "Uh, have you killed any walkers?"

"Who hasn't?" Matt asked. "Been killing walkers since the early days."

"Same here." Camryn adds.

"Hmm." Horatio replies as he nods his head. "Now uh, how many do you think you've killed? Walkers, that is."

"I don't know. I don't keep track of the amount of wakers I killed." Camryn replies. "Maybe… well… over a hundred give or take."

"Mine's probably 53,594 walkers… I'm just vomiting numbers here." Matt replies.

"Have you killed any… people?" Horatio.

Matt stayed silent as he gulped. "No." Camryn replies with a straight face.

"Why?" Horatio asks.

"No reason to. I never had to encounter anyone that I had to kill. Plus killing people is just… morally wrong." Camryn answers.

"What about you?" Horatio asks Matt.

Matt stayed silent as he stared into space, a traumatized expression on his face; his breathing suddenly grew shaky as his lower lip trembled.

At that moment, he started having flashbacks to his early days. In front of him, he could hear the many screams of survivors as remembered back to when he was apart of those groups. He remembered a specific part of his past through his eyes where he dragged a woman across a hall before the scene switched to him slicing her throat. His vision shook as it suddenly changed to children screaming while he held an assault rifle in his hands. The scene quickly switched to a silhouette of a tree with three children hanging from the branches, all in silhouettes as well.

Matt was brought back to reality as his PTSD flashback ended, gulping a lump in his throat. He inhaled and exhaled heavily as he looked up to see Horatio still waiting on his answer. He briefly closed his eyes as he slightly shook his head to regain his composure, swallowing some air some more.

"Uhh… N-No." Matt stuttered but overall kept his calm composure.

"Are you sure?" Horatio asked skeptically.

"Yeah." Matt replies instantly.

Camryn shot him a confused look while Horatio raised an eyebrow. "Well… Thank you, you two, for answering my questions." he says.

"No problem." Matt says above a whisper.

"Now… onto the main part of this meeting." Horatio suddenly reached into the desk drawer.

Camryn grew a confused look. "Main part?" she asked.

Horatio brought out a small container with bright green liquid inside. "This is the antidote." he says. Matt's and Camryn's eyes widened in response. "When you take it, then you will be permanently immune to the virus. Even if you get bit, you will not turn I guarantee you that."

"Bullshit." Matt says.

"Don't believe me?" Horatio suddenly lifted up his shirt, revealing a bite mark on his torso. "I was bitten by a walker during the early days only _after_ I took the antidote." He placed the shirt back in its original place. "And look at me now! Still alive and still in one piece!"

Matt squinted his eyes at Horatio in a skeptical manner.

"We'll have to think about it." Camryn says.

"There's no thinking." Matt suddenly says. "I don't know about her but I'm not going to take whatever is in that vile. I'm a responsible drug user."

"I understand." Horatio replies. "This is all coming onto you too quick. You need time to think. Well, how about this? Seeing how you and your friends all came around the same time, I'll give you until tomorrow morning to think of an answer… Deal?" Horatio shot the two an innocent smile.

Matt, still skeptical of the stranger's offer, continue to squint at the man. "Deal." Camryn says.

"Perfect!" Horatio exclaimed. "Now! Onto jobs. I want you to help the farmers and pick out the fruits and vegetables." He ordered Camryn; he suddenly pointed at Matt. "I want you to go to the armory and help the weaponist loading up ammo. I already sent another person down there to help you. Okay?"

"Leck mich am Arsch. (Kiss my ass.) Matt says in German. **[The translation actually means "lick my ass" but that's how German people say "kiss my ass" in, well, Germany. It's the substitute insult.]**

"I don't know what you said but I'm taking that as a 'Yes sir.'!" Horatio happily exclaims.

"Dummkopf." Matt mumbled under his breath.

"I'll see you two tomorrow!"

* * *

Matt and Camryn walked out of the church both having different expressions; Matt had an irritated expression while Camryn had a somewhat confused one.

"You think he's telling the truth? About the cure?" Camryn asked.

"Of course not." Matt says. "He's lying through his teeth. He didn't get bit by a walker. He just got bit by a dog."

"How can you tell?" Camryn asked.

Matt stretched out the collar of his shirt, revealing the bite mark on his right shoulder. "Cuz I've been bitten by a dog once." he says. "Both of the bite marks are the same."

"How can you tell?" Camryn asks.

"Those bite marks are sharp and angular. Human teeth are different. Four fangs, twelve molars, and I don't even know the other kind of teeth. If he was bitten by a walker, the bite marks would have different markings, but those markings are all the same. Angular… from a dog. He's lying. He doesn't have a cure. That's probably some Gatorade in the vile he has." Matt explained.

"Are you sure?" Camryn asked.

"I'm only sure of two things as of today. One: I Can't Believe It's Not Butter really _is_ butter and that they're just lying. Two: That guy is a liar and he has no cure."

"What are you going to do about it?" Camryn asked.

"I'm gonna confront him about it." Matt assures. "I'm gonna show him that he lied to the wrong person. Nobody lies to Matilda Zeus Dillon and gets away with it!"

"Your middle name is Zeus?... And your name is Matilda?" Camryn asked in utter confusion.

"I need to find where the armory is so I can at least not seem suspicious to Horatio… Where's the armory?" Matt asked as he began to search the settlement.

"I don't know. Maybe the tent that says 'Armory'?" Camryn asked as she pointed to the side of him.

Matt turned to the left to see that there was indeed a tent with the words 'Armory' painted on top of it. "Oh." was all Matt said before he started to walk towards the tent, leaving Camryn behind. Matt entered the tent and was immediately greeted by a familiar face sitting on a chair.

"Melony?" Matt asked.

Sure enough, Melony Simpson, younger sister of Jaren Simpson, was sitting on the chair loading up a pistol. Her eyes widened as she placed the pistol on the table. "Matt!" she exclaimed as she ran up to him, where she gave him a massive bear hug.

"It's nice to see you too, Melony." Matt groaned.

She released her hug from him. "Oh it's so nice to s-... What's with the plush?" Melony asked, noticing the pink elephant strapped to Matt's chest.

"That's Barleycorn. Now what were you saying?" Matt asked impatiently.

"I was so worried about you!" Melony exclaimed.

Matt raised an eyebrow. "You were? We barely know each other." Matt noted.

Melony chuckled. "Yeah but… I kind of have a soft spot for you." she shyly says, a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Again, we barely know each other." Matt says once again. "Why are you in the armory?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Melony asked. "Horatio had me load weapons while Jaren picked out the food from the garden."

"Really? I would've thought it would've been Jaren with the ammo and you at the garden." Matt says.

"That's what we thought but we didn't want to question the leader so we just agreed to it." Melony reveals.

"You must be the new recruit." said a voice. Matt and Melony turned to the side to see a man wearing an army vest. "My name's Julio. You're gonna be helping me with the ammo for today." he said.

"Uh okay? What do you need me to do?" Matt asked.

"I need you to place the bullets into the chambers of the various guns on the table right there." Julio says. "Afterwards, I want you to load the shotguns over at the racks. You'll get more orders afterwards. I'm gonna have to go to speak to Horatio about a few things. I hope you two are okay staying here by yourself."

"We're fine, Julio."

Julio nodded as he left the tent, leaving the two teens alone. "Wow. I just got here and already I'm being ordered around. I already don't like this community." Matt says.

"Come on. Help me with the ammo." Melony says as she sits back down onto the chair.

Matt rolled his eyes as he unstrapped Barleycorn as well as his jacket; he placed the plush toy on the table while he placed his jacket over the chair before taking a seat in it. The male teen began to place bullets into the cartridges one by one.

"So how did you make it out of the Wolf's Den?" Melony asked.

"I ran." Matt says. "It was easier than you think. I almost got killed by I managed to escape. Most of the Timberwolves didn't even know what was going on until I jumped the fence and ran into the woods before swimming across the lake. From then on I found my way to a Whiskey factory and made a bunch of molotovs… and a single pipe bomb… and blew up the whiskey factory."

"That's so hardcore." Melony says.

"Thanks… I think." Matt questionably replies.

"So you're how old?"

"I don't know. 17. 18. Lost count a while ago." Matt answers while loading in more bullets.

"So you must've been in high school when it all started." Melony deduces.

"Yeah I was a Sophomore at the time." Matt says.

"I was a middle schooler." Melony answers as she adds more bullets into the handgun cartridge.

"Must've been tough, huh?" Matt asks, though he wasn't really paying attention to her as he continued to load in more bullets.

"It was." Melony says with sadness in her voice. "Our father wasn't there for us and our mother died before the outbreak. Jaren has been taking care of me ever since. Now that Cheryl's bitten, well…" Melony became quiet for a brief moment before speaking up again. "It hasn't been easy. I don't think I can continue living like this, you know. Living in a world where everyone is killing each other or eating each other. That's not the world I want to live in."

"It's not the world anyone wants to live in but we have no other choice." Matt says, still loading in more bullets. "We just have to keep livin' on and keep on survivin'. It's all we can do."

"We were in school when it happened." Melony suddenly says. "We got evacuated to a mall before it got overrunned. Then we got together with a whole bunch of people which eventually turned into the Timberwolves after several name changes. What about you?"

"Home when it happened. Watched my parents get eaten." Matt suddenly grew a grim look. "It was the happiest day of my life when I saw them getting ripped to shreds." He suddenly shot a smile immediately. "I got evacuated to a military base before it got overrunned and then afterwards I was with a bunch of groups before I was on my own before I met Hunter. We were on our own for a while before we met you guys and then, well, you know the rest."

Melony nodded in response; the two continued to load the bullets into the cartridges before setting some of them down and going for the other cartridges. "I wonder how Bernard is doing with Cheryl." Melony whispers. "Do you think she…"

Matt shook his head. "I don't know." he says above a whisper. "I do know one thing: Bernard is possibly having the worst day of his life… and there's nothing we can do about it… I feel bad for him… Poor Bernard." Matt looked to the ground in sadness.

At that moment, Joe and Joey came walking back into the tent. "Horatio told me to help you guys with the armory." Joe says. "Where's the head of the armory?"

"He left. But you can still help us." Melony says. "All you need to do is just place the bullets into the cartridges. That's it."

"Seems easy enough." Joe says as he grabs a chair. "Come on, Joey. I'll show you how to do it."

"Hey, Joe." Matt suddenly calls out.

Joe turned around to face him. "Yeah?" he asks.

"Are you uh… are you good with weapons?" Matt asks.

Joe shrugged. "Kind of. I'm not good with guns to be honest." Joe reveals. "I used to study ancient weapons used by the Huns and Romans for my History class back at the university."

"Are you good with melee weapons?" Matt asks.

"Like swords and all that stuff?"

"Well yes, but actually no." Matt suddenly reached to his waist and grabbed his shock prod that Camryn gave him a while back. "I use a shock prod and it needs batteries. Now, of course, batteries are scarce these days. Hunter suggested something about solar panels to help power this thing."

"Aaaah. Solar energy! Yes! Definitely! I can help you with that." Joe excitingly agrees.

"Really?" Matt asked, utterly confused.

"Yeah! Of course!" Joe happily replies.

Joey began to speak sign language. (It seems like a stupid idea if you ask me.)

"Joey says-"

"I know what he said." Matt replies in a dry tone, sounding almost as if he was offended in some way. "Look can you help me or not?"

Joe suddenly grabbed the shock prod and began to examine it. "Hmm. Well I'll have to take some time tinkering with it but it's not impossible. A solar powered shock prod. Genius, really! I've never heard of one up until now. Of course, this does mean you won't be able to use it at night."

"It's fine with me, really." Matt says.

"Excellent!" Joe exclaims. "Finally I can be of some use to this group! I'm gonna have to ask Horatio if I can borrow a few materials in order to help you with this little project of yours. Oh, I'm so excited, I simply can't wait! I'm gonna talk to him right now!"

With that, Joe ran out of the tent, followed by Joey who was close behind, leaving Matt and Melony alone in the tent. "Man he's lame." Matt says to himself.

"Tell me about it." Melony mumbles under her breath.

* * *

Bernard struggled to keep his eyes opened as he continued to watch over his dying, long time friend, exhaustion slowly taking over him. He briefly closed his eyes and found that he couldn't open them anymore, tiredness finally setting in. It wasn't until a short moment later that he heard a groan next to him, causing him to shoot his eyes wide opened. He turned to the side to see Cheryl groaning in her bed, restless underneath the covers.

"Cheryl?" Bernard cautiously asked.

Cheryl suddenly opened her eyes, revealing her pupils to be slightly white. "Bernard." she whispered.

Bernard smiled sadly at his friend. "How you doin'?" he asked.

"I feel like death is knocking on my front door." she says in a painful voice. She suddenly chuckled. "It's funny. I always thought I would die babysitting your kids. Now look at me. I'm dying getting babysat by my boss."

"Hey, come on now. Don't talk like that. I'm not your boss. I'm your friend." Bernard says dearly to his friend as he grabbed her hand.

"And I'm glad that you are. Wouldn't trade it for the world." Cheryl took in a deep breath, finding it harder to breathe by the second. "I just want to let you know that I always saw you like a father. You were there when he wasn't… I'm glad I met you."

Bernard felt a few tears escape his eyes. "I'm glad too." Bernard says, his voice cracking as he struggled not to cry.

"Remember what your wife used to say when she got diagnosed?" Cheryl asks.

"'Life is worth livin', not mopin'.' Yeah. I remember." Bernard replies.

"Do me a favor, Bernard." Cheryl says above a whisper. "Remember those words. Don't mope because of what's happening to me. Just keep living on and just remember all the great times we had. I had fun babysitting your kids. All the times we went out to eat for thanking me. I never asked for money… I just liked helping my friend out."

"You're a noble woman, Cheryl." Bernard tells her. "I'm gonna miss you."

"I'll miss you too." Cheryl replies with a small smile on her face.

"I'll make sure you don't turn into one of those things. That's not how I want to remember you. I want to remember you as a friend who was always there for me when I needed you the most."

"Thank you." Cheryl began to cough. "I think… I think my time is up. It's getting… really cold and I don't hurt anymore… It's so peaceful."

She took her final breath as she slowly closed her eyes, a smile on her face as she passed on from the world. Bernard stared at Cheryl's lifeless body with tears in his eyes, no longer able to contain them as they freely stained his cheek. He laid his head down on the bed as he began to silently cry next to Cheryl's body.

* * *

A shovel was thrusted into the ground as it picked up some dirt before it was raised in the air. The person behind the shovel was revealed to be Matt, whom was busy making a grave for the recently deceased Cheryl Harrison. Behind him were various other members of the group. Hunter, Camryn, Joe, Joey, Melony, and Jaren. Matt finished digging the grave as he placed the shovel on the dirt mound next to the recently made grave.

The group turned around to see that Bernard was carrying Cheryl's corpse bridal style, with an expressionless face. He approached the grave and gently laid Cheryl's body into the grave; he suddenly grabbed Cheryl's arms and crossed them over each other as he straightened her clothes, before standing up again. At that moment, Matt approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Bernard turned to the teen who in return nodded his head, the two making a silent agreement. Bernard suddenly grabbed the gun that Jake gave him a while back and stared at it with hesitation. He looked down to Cheryl's corpse which was still peacefully lying in the grave. Sigh heavily, he aimed the gun at Cheryl's forehead and just stood there for moments on end, hesitation in his blood.

He hardened himself as he pulled the trigger, firing the gun into Cheryl's forehead, stopping her from her future reanimation. He sighed sadly as Matt placed his hand on the older gentleman's shoulder yet again as the two of them began to mourn silently. Behind them, the rest of the group members mourned as well; Melony began to sniffle as she hugged her older brother, silently crying onto Jaren's shoulders.

An overhead shot of the group was shown as the group continued to mourn the loss of their dear friend. At that moment, it began to rain as thunder silently clapped the area. Matt grabbed the shovel as he began to bury Cheryl's corpse and finish the grave, all while it continued to sprinkle.

* * *

Hours after Cheryl's death, nighttime rolled over Heaven's Gates as everyone went to their sleeping quarters. The newer members, Matt and his group, were sent to sleep inside the church until there Horatio could assign them houses they could live in inside the community. They were given pillows and sleeping bags as they all got in them, lying on the floor after a well cooked meal that consisted of meat and vegetables.

Matt grabbed his sleeping bag and walked away from the group that were sleeping close to each other. He walked towards a random corner of the church, purposely isolating himself from the others, as he dropped the sleeping bag by the wall. He placed his pillow on the head of the sleeping bag before he got inside it, snuggling up while getting comfortable for a well night's rest. He held Barleycorn in his arms as he snuggled up next to the plush toy, finding it very relaxing to have a plushy friend to sleep with.

He closed his eyes as he concentrated on falling asleep; at that moment, he heard shuffling beside him, prompting him to open up his eyes. He turned to his right to see Melony getting comfortable in her own sleeping bag.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Getting comfortable." Melony replies.

"I mean why are you all the way over here with me?" Matt clarifies.

"I could ask you the same thing." Melony retorts. "Why did you move away from the group?"

Matt gave her lidded eyes with an uninterested expression before turning to the wall, facing away from her. "I don't do well in groups." he grumbled.

"How come?" she asks.

"It's just a long story, alright?" Matt impatiently says.

"Well we have all night." the younger teen offers.

"Yeah. A night needed to sleep because I haven't had a good night's sleep ever since I left Germany 10 years ago." Matt responded in an aggressive tone.

He heard Melony sigh behind him before hearing the sounds of her sleeping bag rustling. Afterwards, he heard a sniffle coming from her; fighting back his nice guy persona, he eventually lost the battle as curiosity took control.

"What's the matter with you? You're not hurt." Matt says in a harsh tone.

Melony continue to silently cry next to him as she faced away from him. "It's not fair. She should've known better. That stupid walker." Melony whispers while crying.

"Who should've known?" Matt asked, getting slightly irritable at Melony's crying.

"Cheryl." Melony answers.

And just like that, Matt's irritable attitude vanished as it was replaced by one of sympathy as well as regret. "Oooooh. I see. I see." he says.

"Why did I wander from the group? It's my fault she's dead." Melony says as tears continue to stain her cheeks.

"Aw, it's not your fault. It's not Cheryl's fault either." Matt says. Melony suddenly turned to face him, her eyes bloodshot from her crying. "It's nobody's fault, Melony. It's just how life works now. Sure it's painful and traumatic but in some sick, twisted way… this could all be like a test. Maybe a test of strength. Survival of the fittest. The fact is Cheryl made it this long in the apocalypse. That's a substantial feature right there. She had what it took to survive here but in the end… it just proved too much for her. We'll all die one day. It's just how life works even in the apocalypse. We'll meet her one day but you see… not all of us will arrive in the afterlife at the same time."

"I miss her so much. She was like a mother to me." Melony cries.

"And you'll always miss her. And she'll always be like a mother to you." Matt tells her. "But she'll always be with you as long as you remember her for who she was. She'll always be by your side, in your heart, in your mind… even in your soul… In some weird way… you two will never be apart, because you two are still in each other's hearts.

Diejenigen, die du liebst, werden niemals deine Seite verlassen."

"What does that mean?" Melony asks.

"It means, 'Those you love will never leave your side.'" Matt translates. Melony sniffed some more; Matt suddenly reached over behind him and grabbed Barleycorn before handing it to Melony. "Here. Maybe ol' Barleycorn here can help cheer you up."

Melony took the stuff pink toy elephant plush. "You really mean it?" she asks.

"About the toy, yes." Matt chuckled.

"About everything." Melony clarifies.

Matt gave her a warm smile. "Yes." he says. "Now go to bed. You need a good night's rest." Matt turned to face the wall as he closed his eyes.

"Thank you, Matt." Melony whispers as she cuddles up next to Barleycorn.

"No problem." Matt whispered.

Soon, the two of them fell asleep; off to the side, Hunter overheard and saw everything, as he stared at his old friend with a smile on his face, proud of his friend's maturity. He laid his head on his own pillow as he began to fall asleep himself.

Inside Matt's head, he began to hear the voice of Cyrus, echoing in his ear, remembering what he said to him during his torture.

_It's a survival of the fittest out there… are you fit to live in this world?_

At that moment, Matt remembered what he told Melony just a minute ago..

_Maybe a test of strength. Survival of the fittest._

_What is the most important thing in society today?_

_I don't even know who I am anymore._

_It's identity…_

_Who am I?_

_You are me and I am you._

Matt's eyes shot wide open after hearing Cyrus' voice, remembering what he told him. He suddenly sat up as he looked around the church, seeing everyone was already asleep in their sleeping bags. Matt calmed himself down before lying back down in his own sleeping bag.

"I'm not him… I'm not… Or am I?" Matt whispered to himself, no longer even knowing the answer.

* * *

Edward tossed and turned in the infirmary bed he was sleeping in, unable to fall asleep. He was sweating profusely as he felt dehydrated while his head hurt and felt absolutely cold. He opened up his eyes to reveal that they were bloodshot while his skin was pale. He quickly sat up as his breathing was strained and ragged while his heart raced a mile a minute.

He couldn't take it anymore.

He decided to get up and leave the tent to get some fresh air and to walk around the quiet, nighttime neighborhood. However, as he was walking, he found out that even walking was a difficult task for him. His vision blurred while his hearing was muffled and his skin ran cold with goosebumps.

He stumbled his way over to the front gate of the community, where he managed to open the gate via the controls. He only managed to open it a little but it was more than enough for him. He slipped his way through the crack as he exited the community, no longer thinking clearly at this point.

All of a sudden, he lost his balance as he fell into some shrubbery. He didn't move at all after that.

* * *

Matt walked through the empty street of the very next day, the cloudless sky above them as the sun shined it's rays onto the community members. In the distance, he saw the church where Horatio's quarters were; his plan was to get Horatio to reveal to the public that his so called "antidote" was just some fake ruse to trick the people of Heaven's Gates.

"Matt!" called out a person.

Matt turned to the side to see Joe walking up to him, his shock prod in his hand. "Hey, Joe. Did you fix that thing?" Matt asked.

Joe handed Matt his shock prod back. "Sure did." Joe says with a smile on his face. "I just placed some rechargeable batteries in there. You can recharge them using solar power."

"Seriously?" Matt asked in bewilderment. "Heh. That's actually kind of genius."

"Finally, I got to use my degree in Mechanical Engineering to good use afterall… To bad I majored in World History and became a depressed and abused History professor." Joe said in a sad tone during the last part.

"Thanks man." Matt replies. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem. Joe is always here to help."

"Alright, you're starting to sound lame again."

Joe walked away with a defeated expression on his face; Matt turned his attention back to the church, getting ready to start his plan. He suddenly looked to the ground and noticed a rock, to which he grabbed and placed in his back pocket.

* * *

Horatio was over at one of his shelves, cleaning a knife from one of his display cases with his cane leaning against the desk behind him. At that moment, a person knocked on the door from outside.

"Come in." Horatio says as continued to clean the knife. Matt entered the office and walked in side; as soon as he did, Horatio grew a smile on his face. "Aaah! The kid! Have you decided what your answer is?"

"I have." Matt says as he closes the door. "After careful consideration I have decided… not to take the antidote."

"Why's that?" Horatio asks, placing the knife back in the display case.

Matt suddenly grabbed the rock he got from outside out of his back pocket and hid it behind his back. "Well it's because…" he says.

Before he could even finish his sentence, Matt threw the rock backwards behind his back, which collided with a vase. The vase toppled over as it fell to the ground, shattering upon impact; both Matt and Horatio turned to the broken vase on the ground, with Horatio having a confused look while Matt faked a confused expression himself.

"That was weird." Matt says.

"Yeah, it was." Horatio agrees.

He suddenly got off his chair and approached the broken vase; Matt leaned against the table and reached his hand over to the radio on the desk that was idling sitting there, taking note of it since yesterday. He suddenly pressed the speaker button, which emitted a noise from outside. Everyone out in the streets stopped what they were doing when they heard the speakers turn on. Matt then turned up the volume, letting everyone outside hear what he and Horatio were going to be talking about.

Outside, various survivors were seen standing idly in the street, waiting for the announcements. Survivors such as Hunter, Joe, Joey, Jaren, Bernard, Jake, and Louis.

"Damn. That was my favorite vase as well." Horatio says.

"It was a nice vase." Matt agrees.

"Ah, I'll clean it up later." Horatio stood back up and turned to Matt. "So tell me why you don't want to take the antidote."

"Because it's a fake." Matt says.

Everyone outside gasped in shock.

Horatio however laughed. "That's ridiculous! It's not a fake. I created the antidote myself. I used to be a government scientist. Do I need to show you my bite mark again?" Horatio asks with a smile.

"How 'bout I do you one better? Let me show you _my_ bite mark."

Matt suddenly stretched his collar, revealing the bite mark scar on his shoulder; Horatio's eyes widened at the sudden appearance of the bite mark.

"That bite mark on your torso didn't come from a walker. It came from a dog." Matt says. "So this brings me to this question: Why lie about the bite mark? The answer? Because if you say that bite mark was from a walker and you're still standing, you can prove to your fellow community members that serum in that vile is actually the antidote. But if it's from a dog, then it wouldn't make a great argument, now would it?"

Horatio glared at Matt as anger fueled his veins.

"So tell me, Horatio, if that's your real name. Is this the antidote or is this all just a scam?" Matt asks, holding the vile in his hands.

Horatio gritted his teeth as he glared at Matt before sighing in defeat. "You're a smart kid, you know that." he says, smiling a bit. "Yes… it's a scam."

Everyone outside gasped yet again in shock; even Camryn was surprised by the answer.

"If I told everyone that I had the antidote, that would mean I would become the leader of this community." Horatio began to explain. "I would have a lot of people under my command and they wouldn't do anything about it since I granted them all immunity!... Or so they think. What they don't know in the vile is just a pain killer medicine in liquid form. I would control everything and I would be like a God to them."

"A God named Horatio?" Matt asks tauntingly.

"It was a perfect plan as well." Horatio says. "It still is. Nobody knows this besides you. All I have to do is just dispose of you and nobody will know. Those bumbling idiots out there will believe anything! They even believed that God is real! If God was real, then why did he do this to us?! Those people out there are just simple minded morons. They'll never know all of this was just a ruse."

"How much do you want to bet on that?" Matt asks slyly with a mischievous smile on his face.

"What do you mean?" Horatio asks.

Matt walked out of the way, showing that the radio he was standing in front of was on the entire time. Horatio's eyes widened in shock and anger. "You… You…. You meddling brat!" Horatio shouted in rage.

"He lied to us," said a woman. "He didn't have a cure! HE LIED TO US!"

"That asshole!" shouted a man in anger.

At that moment, a person began to walk towards the group standing outside of the church from behind. Madeline suddenly turned around and screamed in utter horror. "AAAAAAAAHH!" she screamed.

Everyone turned around to see that a walker was approaching them. However, the walker was a familiar face to the whole community.

"EDWARD!" shouted Madeline.

The Edward walker growled as it bit own on an old lady, causing her to scream in horrific pain.

"We're all infected! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" shouted a young woman as everyone began to run away.

Louis suddenly looked down and noticed one of the tents were being held down by a wooden stake. He quickly grabbed it and unhooked it from the ground before running up towards the Edward walker. The Edward walker looked up and growled at Louis, who in return stuck the wooden stake right in the eye of the Edward walker, destroying the brain and killing it. The Edward walker fell to the ground, dead, as Louis blew a sigh of relief.

Joey began making hand gestures to the group. "Joey says he finds it ironic that the vampire actor got killed by a wooden stake." Joe translates.

"Never liked that guy anyways. His acting was horrible." Hunter says in a nonchalant tone.

"Hey." Bernard suddenly said out loud. "Who opened the gates?"

The group turned to the front gates, which were slightly opened. "Quick! We need to close them before-"

Before Jake could finish, a horde of walkers began to push their way through the crack of the gates, growling in the process.

"Nevermind." Jake finishes in defeat.

"Gee. This feels like a familiar situation." Jaren says in an aggravated, annoyed tone.

Joey began making hand gestures. (We need to get out of here as fast as possible!)

"Joey says we need to leave this place!" Joe translates.

"We're not leaving without the kid!" Hunter exclaims.

"Wait… Where's Melony?!" Jaren shouted in horror, not able to find his little sister anywhere.

* * *

"You meddling, ignorant idiot of a child!" Horatio insulted Matt.

"Hey! I'm not a child!… I think." Matt says.

"You ruined my perfect community!" Horatio shouted. "You ruined my God like powers! YOU RUINED EVERYTHING! I was treated like a God to these people and you had to come along and spoil it! Who do you think you are?!"

"No offense, pal, but I wouldn't want to worship some douchebag like you." Matt retorts, backing up a bit.

"HOW DARE YOU?! I'M HORATIO STANFORD! I AM THE KING OF THIS COMMUNITY!" Horatio shouted in rage. He suddenly began to chuckle as he walked over to his desk. "No matter. Heh. No matter!"

He grabbed his cane and took off the top, revealing that there was a hidden sword in it.

"You can still be a once in a lifetime member. Many people want this position, dear Matty…"

Horatio suddenly began to chuckle as Matt backed up a bit, slightly creeped out by his sudden change of attitude.

"**This position… is to DIE FOR! Heh heh. Heh heh. Ha. Hahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"**

Matt stared at Horatio with a creeped out expression; at that moment, Horatio lunged forward towards Matt, swinging down his cane sword. Matt narrowly escaped from the attack as he dodged out of the way, causing Horatio to create a slice in his shelf. Horatio swung his cane sword, yet again, horizontally, barely missing Matt's neck and almost slitting his throat.

Horatio yelled as he thrusted his cane sword toward Matt, who barely got hit as he dodged at the last second. Matt quickly recovered from his dodge as he began to use his improvisation skills and improvised tactics. Matt jumped in the air and kicked Horatio right in the side of his shoulder, causing him to crash into the bookcase next to him. The teen landed on his back as he immediately ignored all pain and began to back up.

As Horatio was getting up from his recent attack, Matt grabbed his own weapon of choice: his shock prod, now with a full battery. He pressed the button which extended the shock prod to it's fullest length; Horatio, meanwhile, got up from his attack and stood back up on his feet. He growled at Matt as he charged himself forward, raising his cane sword in the air.

He swung his sword down only for Matt to block the attack by using his shock prod as a shield. Matt pushed Horatio off of him as he powered up his shock prod; he thrusted his weapon forward as the shock prod came into contact with Horatio. The leader got electrocuted by the shock prod, causing him to stand still in place, stunned; Matt took this opportunity to attack as he did a side kick to Horatio's chest, sending him flying to the bookcase yet again. Upon crashing into the bookcase, the entire case fell on top of him. Horatio used all of his strength to push the bookcase off of himself.

Matt thrusted his shock prod forward to strike Horatio, only for him to duck out of the way, causing Matt to accidentally electrocute some paper, accidentally setting them on fire. Horatio thrusted his cane sword forward, slashing the side of Matt's torso while also ripping his shirt. Matt yelped in pain as blood trickled down the side of his stomach; angered by the attack, Matt released his rage by shove the shock prod underneath Horatio's armpit, electrocuting him.

Horatio squirmed in place as he kicked the shock prod out of Matt's hands; Matt then suddenly stepped on Horatio's own hand, causing the Heaven's Gates leader to let go of his cane sword. Matt forcefully brought Horatio back to his feet before he shoved him over to his desk. The leader collided with the desk as the teen charged his way towards him. Before Matt could even lay a finger on him, Horatio kicked Matt right in the face, causing him to stumble backwards.

As he was stumbling backwards, Matt stepped on a stray book, causing him to slip and fall onto the ground. The fire from the burnt pages that was caused by the electrocution of a random book continued to spread beside them. Horatio quickly grabbed the cane sword lying on the ground next to him and approached Matt, whom was still lying on the floor. Matt opened his eyes to see Horatio standing over him, hovering the cane sword over his body.

Horatio thrusted the sword forward, only for Matt to catch the sword just in time; the tip of the sword was mere centimeters away from his face. The two struggled in place as they both used all of their strengths on the cane sword; acting quickly without thinking, Matt kicked Horatio off of him. Horatio came crashing into the desk behind him as Matt quickly began to get up. Horatio did some quick thinking himself as he quickly grabbed a stapler from his desk and threw it at Matt.

The stapler collided with Matt's head, causing him to lose his balance and fall back down. Not wasting any time, Horatio charged at Matt yet again as he raised his cane sword in the air. Matt saw the cane sword hovering him just in time as well, because Horatio slammed the sword down. Matt rolled out of the way just in time as the cane sword stabbed the wooden floor beneath them. Horatio tried to pull the sword out of the floor only to realize it was jammed and stuck in there.

Matt raised his foot in the air and kick Horatio right in the face, causing him to stumble backwards into several display cases. The teen turned to his right to see his shock prod lying on the floor next to him; he quickly grabbed the shock prod before grabbing the cane sword. With one, strong pull, Matt managed to get the cane unstuck from the floorboard, before he proceeded to march his way towards Horatio.

Horatio looked forward to see Matt dual wielding both weapons; Matt gave no time for his enemy to attack as he thrusted the shock prod into Horatio's stomach, shocking and electrocuting him in place. He then suddenly swung the cane sword diagonally across Horatio's shoulder to his stomach, causing his skin to slice. The Heaven's Gates leader screamed in pain as Matt swung the cane sword again on the opposite shoulder. He created a large X shaped wound that covered Horatio's torso, ripping his clothes in the process.

The con man glared at Matt in anger as he quickly grabbed a knife, only to be stopped when Matt shoved the shock prod right into Horatio's cheek, electrocuting him some more. He only briefly electrocuted him before stabbing his crotch area, electrocuting his genitals as well. Horatio screamed in horrific pain as Matt swung the cane sword onto his hand, cutting half of it clean off. Blood squirted from his half assed amputation as Horatio continued to scream in pain.

Matt suddenly shoved the shock prod into Horatio's missing hand wound, electrocuting the wound as well as the blood squirting from the missing half hand. Horatio trembled as his entire body shook in pain and electrocution; Matt retracted the shock prod away as he backed up, watching Horatio fall onto one knee, groaning in pain.

"You fucking prick…" Horatio groaned. "I was the king of this community! I had everything! Loyal servants! Power! So much power!... I had it all… and it got taken away by a scrawny, lookin' bastard like you." Horatio coughed.

He struggled to get back on his feet but managed to do so in the end.

"Can't believe a worthless prick like you… did me in!" Horatio shouted. Matt simply gave Horatio a 'don't care' expression. "I may have been beaten by you… but…"

He suddenly looked up, shooting Matt a malicious smile.

"I'll always be the king of this community! I'll go down in history! I'M THE KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiing…"

With those final words, Horatio fell to the ground face first as he finally succumbed to his wounds; Matt only simply looked at the body with the same 'don't care' expression.

"You've been officially dethroned your majesty." Matt sarcastically quips. At that moment, the flames roared behind him, alerting Matt. "I gotta get out of here." he casually says as he exits the room, leaving Horatio's recently deceased body in the room.

* * *

Camryn sat at a desk alone in a tent, a piece of paper in front of her while she held a pencil in her hand. She had a concentrated expression on her face as she was deep in thought, trying to figure out the vague clue Domino left her. She heard his voice in her head, remembering what he told her.

_Just pay close attention to my name and you'll get what I mean. Sometimes things aren't what they seem. You just need to move things around a bit in order to get the answer you are looking for._

Camryn suddenly wrote something down on the piece of paper:

BAY DOMINO

She stared at the name she just wrote, trying to figure out what he meant by that vague message he gave her.

At that moment, her eyes lit up as she realized something; she suddenly began writing fiercely on the piece of paper, crossing out a letter of his name every time she did so. In the end, she wrote several words on the piece of paper while all the letters in Domino's name was crossed out. Camryn set the pencil aside as she looked at the hidden message she managed to decode from Domino's name in front of her.

On the piece of paper were three little words:

I AM NOBODY

She realized that Bay Domino was simply an anagram for "I am nobody" which only added to his already mysterious vibe. This only confused Camryn even more as she was now wondering who Domino even was or if he was really there to begin with.

At that moment, she heard screaming from outside the tent, prompting her to head outside. She stuck her head out of the tent only to be met by a bunch of survivors running away. She turned to the right to see a huge horde of walkers on the street, some eating survivors while others managed to get away, though were bitten in the process.

"Oh shit." she says.

Camryn immediately ran out of the tent to go find her friends.

* * *

Matt ran out of the church, holding Horatio's cane sword while his shock prod was attached to his belt. He looked all around to see that there were walkers roaming the streets while some survivors were either running away, getting eaten, or fighting back. Matt turned to the side and saw a single person standing in the middle of the street. Raising an eyebrow at the survivor's odd behavior as to why she was just standing there, Matt began to approach her.

"Hey." he called out. "You alright?"

The person turned around, revealing themselves to be Melony. "Hey, Matt." she says in a soft tone.

"Melony. What're you doing out here?" Matt asks.

"I came here to think."

"You do realize there are walkers over on the other side, right?"

Melony looked down, an unemotional expression on her face. "I know." she says in the same soft tone.

"Come on. Let's get you to your brother." Matt says.

"I'm not going." she declares.

Matt cocked an eyebrow. "Why not?" he asks.

She suddenly turned to him, tears swelling up in her eyes. "Because I've had it with this world!" she shouts, startling Matt a little. "Everywhere I look, all I see are the undead! People killing other people! I don't want to live in a world where murder is considered a normal, everyday routine! That's not who I am!"

"Melony, I understand what you're going through." Matt says, trying to calm her down. "I'm not used to it as well. I'm scarred from my past because I had to do horrible things to innocent people. But it's just how the world is now. You can't change it."

"It may be alright for you but it's not alright for me!"

"Melony, just listen to me. I don't like this world just like you do but… but it's just how it is! Trust me! I hate it! But I continue to live because… because that's just… UGH! I can't explain it!" Matt shouts as he grabs his head in frustration. "But just stay with me Melony, alright? You're like an annoying little sister to me."

"That's all I am to you? A little sister?" she asks. "The moment I laid eyes on you when you and Hunter entered the boathouse cabin a few days I go, I saw a handsome young man whom I fell in love with! It was love at first sight!"

"Look, I'm sorry I don't return your feelings but that's not my fault! Why are we even discussing this right now?! There's an army of walkers behind us for Christ sakes!" Matt shouts in frustration yet again.

Melony sighs. "Alright, fine. We'll discuss this later. Just give me a weapon to help with the walkers." she says.

Matt handed her the cane sword. "Here, use this." he says as she takes it out of his hands. "There's a hidden sword in there. Just slide the rim off and you'll see it."

Melony did what Matt said and slid the rim off, revealing the hidden sword inside. She looked at Matt with a dead expression and without breaking eye contact, threw the case to the side, now only having the sword in her hand.

"Uuuh, you'll need the case later on, you know." Matt notes, confused as to why she threw the case away.

"No I won't." Melony says with no emotion or expression at all.

She suddenly lifted the sword and pointed it to her chest; Matt immediately caught on what she was doing, horrified at what she was going to do.

"Melony… MELONY! NO!" he shouted as he reached out to save her.

But it was too late.

With one push, Melony stabbed the sword into her chest, piercing her body as she just committed seppuku. Her eyes widened as tears fell from them, staining her cheeks. Blood trickled down her stab wound as Matt grabbed the sword and threw it to the side before covering the wound. Melony fell backwards only for Matt to catch her, laying her head on his lap; he continued to put pressure on the wound, staining his hands with blood.

"No! No! No! No! Melony! Stay with me!" Matt shouted. "Medic! Somebody help! Sanitäter! Ich brauche einen Sanitäter! Sie braucht Hilfe! Sie wurde verwundet! (Paramedic! I need a paramedic! She needs help! She's been wounded!) Matt shouted in hopes to getting someone's attention.

He then turned back to Melony.

"Come on. Stay with me, Melony." he tells her; he turned his attention back to a random direction. "Jemand! Hilf mir jetzt! (Someone! Help me now!)

"M-Matt." Melony groaned, immediately getting his attention. Melony looked up at him with a smile on her face, blood coming out of her mouth. "It feels peaceful… I'm coming to see you Cheryl… I'm coming to see… you…"

With those final words, Melony's eyes closed; Matt's lips trembled as he stared at Melony's body in horror, his breath shaking and strained.

* * *

"They're everywhere!" shouted Louis as Jake, whom was beside him, stabbed a walker in the face.

Currently, several survivors were fighting the walkers in the middle of the street: Hunter, Bernard, Jaren, Joe, Joey, Jake,and Louis. Hunter saw a walker approaching him and raised his hunting knife, ready to stab the walker; however, at that very moment, a bullet whizzed passed him as it collided with the walker's head, killing it instantly.

Gunfire could be heard coming from the back of the horde, which only confused the group even more. The horde of walkers that were once approaching the group turned around at the sudden loud noises coming from behind them. The group of survivors grew confused looks as they saw the walkers get mowed down one by one. Eventually, the horde of walkers were all killed as a huge number of people marched in the middle of the street.

Hunter's eyes widened as he saw the sight of a familiar face. A face he thought was dead. The person leading the group of survivors behind him was none other than… Cyrus Wolfe, whom smiled maliciously at Hunter, with his second in command Jericho walking beside him.

"Cyrus." Hunter gasped.

Cyrus approached Hunter as the group backed up a bit; Cyrus stared into Hunter's eyes with his own eyes, eyes filled with pure evil as the same malicious smile was still on his face.

"Do you know what motivates people?" Cyrus riddled. Hunter didn't answer as he continued to stare into Cyrus' eyes, his pupils shaking. "Fear." Cyrus answers.

At that moment, Cyrus raised his customized Desert Eagle and pointed it at Joey's head, before pulling the trigger. A bullet went through Joey's forehead, killing him instantly as his body fell to the ground.

"JOEY!" Joe shouted in utter horror.

"Cyrus!" shouted a Timberwolf behind him, prompting the leader to turn around. "Look!"

Cyrus turned to the side where he saw a bunch of Heaven's Gates survivors grabbing weapons and aiming them at them.

"Stop the intruders!" shouted a Heaven's Gate member.

"They must not be allowed to take over the church!" shouted another member.

"Slaughter them all! Leave no survivors!" Cyrus orders. "Jericho! Find Cinderella!"

"Will do." Jericho replies as he runs off.

"Kill them all!" shouted a Timberwolf.

"Stop me, motherfucker! Stop me!" dared another Timberwolf.

Cyrus turned only to be met by a powerful punch to the face by Bernard, causing him to be knocked down onto the ground. "Now's our chance, y'all! Let's go!" he shouted as he booked it.

The other survivors all ran, with Joe grabbing Joey's body. "No… Joey!" he cried as tears fell down his eyes.

"Come on!" Hunter shouted as he grabbed Joe and forced him along.

Cyrus stood up and watched as his prey ran away, turning the corner; he raised his Desert Eagle in the air and fired it, managing to pierce Joe's leg, causing him to yell in pain but still manage to disappear around the corner. Cyrus scowled as his victims got away gritting his teeth in the process. He turned to the Heaven's Gates members who were firing at his Timberwolves; he aimed his weapon at the group and began unloading a clip into it, taking out some survivors.

He might as well help his allies than leave just to find his victims when it could either be a trap or could already be long gone by now.

"Jesus Christ! How did they find us!" Jaren shouted as he and the rest continued to run down the street.

The group suddenly stopped as they all gasped; in front of them was a huge horde of walkers coming towards their direction. They turned back only to see that another huge horde of walkers were behind them as well.

"We're surrounded!" Louis shouted in panic.

"What do we do?!" Joe shouted as well.

"Where's Melony?!" Jaren asked.

"Where's the kid?!" Hunter asked as well.

* * *

Matt slumped over Melony's body as his breath was shaking in rage; he could feel the anger boiling in his veins. Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore as he looked up to the sky, tightly shutting his eyes as he raised his hands in the air; he then released a loud scream of pure rage, letting out all of his anger.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

He screamed at the top of his lungs as walkers infested the entire Heaven's Gate community.

* * *

"_No death, no doom, no anguish can arouse the surpassing despair which flows from a loss of identity."_

* * *

**(I'm more than halfway done with this chapter. Things are gonna be slow for now on since I start class of my second semester in college literally next week so I'm gonna be focused on school first. But don't worry, I'll try to write as much as possible for Chapter 4. I already have a gist of what the chapter will be about so it probably won't take long.**

**Chapter 5 is my bigger concern. I only have parts of it thought out but I still need to splice some plot in as well.**

**Anywho, that's all I gotta say. So uhh yeah. I gotta go give Ramirez a bath so I'll see you guys soon.**

**KOKBYE!**

…

**Oh don't worry! I'll bring that pizza too man!)**


	4. Psychosis

**(Aaaaalalalala- HEY POTASSIUM! Oh, I can't really land there right now because there's a bunch of zombies and CABLES! Also even if I could land LORI'S TOO FAT! So why don't you go to that hospital and get some lipo-o-sssssuction. Okay bye Potassium! BYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYE!**

**WHERE IS MY SUPER SUIT?!**

**P.S., this chapter takes a lot of inspiration from Left 4 Dead 2 cuz why the fuck not- KOKBYE!)**

* * *

Matt stared off into the distance as he was on his knees, a defeated expression on his face, as Melony's corpse was lying in front of him. He didn't move a muscle as he continued to stare dead into the distance, all while walkers were slowly roaming the street of the Heaven's Gates communities. Gunshots could be heard being fired in the distance, though this still didn't snap Matt back into reality. Matt didn't seem to notice anything around him or was even aware of his surroundings, as if he was stuck in some sort of trance.

Behind him, a walker slowly crept up to him, though he still didn't seem to notice.

* * *

**299 Days in…**

**Somewhere near Fort Jackson…**

"You think anyone's down there?" Hunter asks.

Matt removed the binoculars from his eyes and squinted at the military base in the distance. "It's hard to tell." Matt says. "We haven't seen anyone in months. I'm starting to think we're the last souls on Earth."

"We should probably head down there just to search for supplies though." Hunter suggests.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking as well." Matt places the binoculars into his bag. "Come on. We're burning daylight here." he says as he slides down the hill.

"It's midnight." Hunter says, despite Matt not being there anymore.

Matt slid down to the base of the hill with Hunter arriving shortly afterwards. The two started to make their way to the military base in search of supplies.

"Hey, kid." Hunter suddenly says. "You ever gonna tell me why you don't want us to be in groups?"

Matt hesitated to answer the question but eventually gave one. "It's just better if it's the two of us, Hunter. Trust me on this one." he answers.

"Kid," Hunter begins. "I've been traveling with you for the better part of five months, lad and we haven't seen a single soul out here since then. How come you won't talk to me?"

"It's nothing personal, Hunter… Well, it _is_ but not to you." Matt quickly elaborated. "When I feel like it's the right time to talk to you, I'll tell you, alright. I won't guarantee that I'll be here for long but I guarantee that I _will_ tell you my story… eventually. It's just a really traumatizing one and it still haunts me every waking moment I'm alive. Trust me, Hunter. I'm just not ready for it."

Hunter looked at his friend with a sympathetic expression, before closing his eyes and sighing through his nose. "I understand." he says. "I shouldn't keep pushing you."

"It's alright." Matt replies. The two eventually arrived at the military base. "Come on. We can head in through that hole in the fence."

With that said, the two went through the hole in the fence as they went inside the military base to gather supplies.

* * *

Matt continued to stare off into the distance with a defeated expression on his face. Unbeknownst to him, a walker was approaching behind him, growling as it bent down to take a bite out of him. Even when the walker grabbed his shoulder, Matt was still unaware of his surroundings and was still lost from reality.

The walker suddenly lowered its jaws towards Matt's neck, ready to take a bite out of him. At that moment, a gunshot was heard as a bullet penetrated the walker's temple, killing it instantly as blood splattered on the side of Matt's face. Matt still seemed undisturbed by the events taking place and was still lost from reality.

The person who shot the walker was revealed to be Camryn, holding a P228 in her hands.

"Matt!" she shouted, trying to get his attention.

She turned to the side where a walker was approaching her. She immediately fired her gun and shot the walker in the head, killing it instantly. She turned to the other side where another walker was approaching her, only for her to shoot and kill _that_ walker instead.

"Matt! What's the matter with you?!" she asked desperately as she shot another walker. "Matt!"

This seemed to have snapped Matt back into reality since he turned his head slightly just to face her. Camryn immediately ran towards him, shooting another walker in the process, as she grabbed him by his armpits.

"Come on! We have to go! The walkers are all over the place!" Camryn shouted impatiently.

"But… Melony…" Matt says, turning to her corpse.

"We can talk about that later but right now we have to go! Do you have a weapon you can use?" Camryn asks.

"Yeah… Yeah I have one." Matt confirms.

He suddenly grabbed the cane sword that Melony used to commute suicide with, which was still fresh with her blood.

* * *

Hunter and the others huddled next to each other as the walkers slowly approached them, having taken both sides of the streets. Gunfire could be heard in the distance from the battle between Heaven's Gates and the Timberwolves. Hunter readied his knife as he waited patiently for a walker to approach them.

At that moment, the horde in front of them were immediately mowed down by bullets. The walkers that were previously approaching Hunter and the rest turned around to face their new enemies, which were several members of the Heaven's Gates community who managed to grab weapons from the armory.

"Look! They're clearing a path!" Hunter shouted as he pointed to the walkers whom were walking away.

Jaren turned around to see the many walkers in front of them making a new direction, which cleared the street. At that moment, he saw two figures at the end of the street: Matt and Camryn. However, the one thing he noticed was the face of his sister lying on the ground, which only frightened poor Jaren.

"Melony!" he shouted as he made a beeline toward her.

Matt and Camryn turned around to see Jaren running towards them; Jaren paid no attention to the two as he shoved Matt out of the way. However, his eyes went wide as dinner plates in horror as he spotted the sight of his little sister's body, blood pouring out of her abdomen.

"No… NO!" Jaren shouted as tears formed in his eyes. "WHO DID THIS?! WHO KILLED MY SISTER?!"

Jaren turned to Camryn before turning to Matt, who had a slightly startled expression on his face. However, Jaren noticed the bloody sword in his hand, which only came to one conclusion. Jaren's eyes squinted as he scowled and glared sharp daggers at Matt as he connected the dots.

"You." he growled.

Matt turned to the sword, realizing it was tainted with Melony's blood, before realizing his situation.

"N-No! Jaren! It wasn't me! I swear!" Matt pleaded.

"You killed my sister you BASTARD!" Jaren shouted as he pounced toward Matt.

Matt managed to easily dodge his attack as Jaren began to let out a violent flurry of punches at Matt. Matt continued to move his head and body swiftly as he easily dodged all the punches, all while not losing his breath.

"Jaren, if you would just listen to me-"

"I'm gonna rip kill you for this!" Jaren shouted.

"Damnit! Jaren! We don't have time for this!" Camryn shouted.

"Matt! Camryn!" Bernard shouted as he and the rest ran up to them. They however stopped and gasped as they saw the sight of Melony's body. "Oh good Lord!"

"Melony?!" Hunter shouted in horror.

"First Joey and now Melony! My life is falling apart!" Joe shouted as he began to sob.

"I barely even knew her and I only knew her as a perverted kid but even I'm saddened by this." Louis says.

Jaren continued to assault Matt only for him to continue dodging the attacks. "Jaren, please!"

"I won't stop until I kill you!" Jaren shouted.

Bernard suddenly grabbed Jaren from behind, stopping his assault on Matt. "Jaren! Now's not the time for fightin'! We need to get out of here!"

"If you think this little shit is coming with us, then forget it! He's staying here!" Jaren shouted at the older man.

"Fuck you, Jaren! I ain't stayin' here! I'm leaving!" Matt shouted back.

"I'm with Matt on this one. Wherever he's going, I'm going with him." Camryn states as she stands by Matt.

"I've always traveled with the kid so I'm going with him too." Hunter says as he stands next to the two.

"You two are crazy! He's a psychotic killer! He killed my little sister!" Jaren shouted.

"What?" Bernard asks in utter confusion.

"I didn't kill her! I tried to stop her!" Matt tried to explain. "Why would I even _want_ to kill her?!"

"Because you're insane and sadistic! That's what you are!" Jaren insulted.

"Hey guys. I hate to break up the staff meeting but- THEY'RE HERE!" Louis shouted.

Everyone turned to the side to see the walkers slowly approaching them, all growling at once. "We need to get out of here." Bernard says.

"Yeah, but how?" Matt asks.

"We can jump over the walls!" Jake exclaims as he points to the perimeter walls.

"Are you kidding me?! I'm not jumping over that! There could be more walkers on the other side" Matt exclaims. "You crazy cunts do whatever you want to do! I'm gonna find a different way out of here!"

With that said, Matt ran away towards the houses. "Kid! Kid wait! Awww shit!" Hunter curses as he runs after Matt.

"You're not leaving me with that psycho!" Camryn shouted at the former ghost hunter as she referred to Jaren.

"You come back here, Matt!" Jaren shouted! "You fucking pussy! I'm gonna murder you for murdering my sister!"

"Forget about him, dude." Jake sternly says. "We need to get out of here."

"And make it fast." Joe groans in pain. "My leg is starting to hurt from that bullet."

Joe lost his balance only for Jake and Louis to grab onto him, giving him support. "Bernard, you coming?" Jake asks.

Bernard took a look at the four in front of them before glancing over at the direction where the others went, before looking back at the four, giving them a stern look of certainty.

"You guys go without me. I'm gonna try to get them back." Bernard says.

"Well you better hurry because we're leaving right now!" Jake shouts.

With that, Bernard ran the other direction to catch up to the other three. Jake and Louis helped the injured Joe as the four of them proceeded to make a break for the wall. The walkers behind them slowly covered the entire street as gunfire could still be heard from the other side from the two groups fighting each other.

* * *

Matt broke through a fence and ran through a random backyard, trying to find a way out of the community. "Jesus Christ, this place is so big," he complained. "How am I supposed to find anything around here?"

"Why don't I help you with that, Cinderella." said a voice prompting Matt to turn his head.

There, by the backdoor of the house, was Jericho, the right hand man and second in command of the Timberwolves. Jericho smiled maliciously at Matt as he wielded a custom, combination weapon that appeared to be two fire axes with a sledgehammer all duct taped together.

"Jericho?" Matt asked. "What're you doing here?"

"Awww. Is that the hello I get?" Jericho asked as he feigned an offended tone, before going back to his previous sadistic expression. "Cyrus has been lookin' for ya. You know?"

"Cyrus is here?" Matt asked, slightly terrified.

"We're all here, Matty." Jericho says. "'Cause where else would we go? When the earth tips sideways. It's just where we'll roll. Well that crazy train ran out of track. We all jumped off and never looked back. On a buzz, on a binge, on a dare .On a whim, on a wing, on a prayer. Maybe we're all here, 'cause we ain't all there. Naw we ain't all there… We're all here."

Jericho yelled as he charged forward, raising his sledgehammer/fire axe combo weapon in the air. Matt quickly jumped out of the way in time as Jericho completely obliterated a wood bench. Acting quickly, Matt grabbed the nearest object, which happened to be a propane tank, and threw it. Jericho quickly swung his weapon, knocking the propane tank over to a grill. However, because he aggressively hit it, he accidentally managed to create a leak in it, which leaked out the contents inside.

The Timberwolf Lieutenant lunged forward as he raised his weapon in the air. Matt immediately kicked Jericho right in the stomach, halting his attack before kicking him again, sending him flying. Matt suddenly grabbed Horatio's cane sword that he stole and readied it for his own attack. Jericho quickly got up on his feet as he saw Matt charging at him with the cane sword.

Jericho moved out of the way in time as Matt swung the cane sword, missing the Timberwolf. Jericho then proceeded to kick Matt right in the face, sending him falling to the ground. The Timberwolf raised his weapon in the air and swung down, only to miss Matt as he moved out of the way. Matt then kicked Jericho in the face, causing him to let go of his weapon which was stuck to the ground.

Matt quickly got up and grabbed the gun that was in Jericho's holster before aiming it at him. Jericho caught on and immediately grabbed Matt's wrist, getting the gun away from his face. In the end, Matt accidentally fired the gun at the grill, which caused it to inadvertently turn on. Jericho twisted Matt's hand, causing him to lose his grip on the gun. He got his gun back only for Matt to kick the gun out of his hand; angered by this, Jericho grabbed a grenade that was belted to him and raised it in the air.

Matt quickly got up to his feet and grabbed Jericho's wrist as the two struggled for the grenade. Jericho ended up pulling the pin, now tightening the time frame. "I'll take you out with me!" Jericho declared.

Matt ended up headbutting Jericho right in the nose, causing him to let go of the grenade, which fell onto the grass. The teen grabbed it and chucked it in a random direction, which was revealed to be at the grill. The grenade ended up being thrown right next to the leaking propane tank underneath the lit grill. Matt's eyes widened in shock as Jericho turned to the grill before he grew a terrified expression as well.

"Uh oh."

"Aw shit."

The two said at the same time.

**BOOM!**

The whole house exploded as a mushroom cloud of smoke and fire bursted high into the air.

* * *

_Heya Tom, it's Bob… from the office down the hall…_

_Good to see you buddy, how've you been?_

_Things have been okay for me except that I'm a zombie now_

_I really wish you'd let us in_

_I think I speak for all of us when I say I understand_

_Why you folks might hesitate to submit to our demand_

_But here's an FYI: you're all gonna die screaming_

_All we want to do is eat your brains_

_We're not unreasonable, I mean, no one's gonna eat your eyes_

_All we want to do is eat your brains_

_We're at an impasse here, maybe we should compromise_

_If you open up the door_

_We'll all come inside and eat your brains_

**Infection of the Dead: The Other Side of Life**

* * *

"_In a mad world, only the mad are sane."_

* * *

The Timberwolves continued to open fire onto the Heaven's Gates community members as many of them hid behind cover; behind them was the house that blew up with smoke rising into the air as flames could be seen engulfing the house.

The whole backward was filled with smoke and debris, as shown when Matt was coughing up a storm while lying underneath pieces of the fence that broke in the explosion. Matt coughed some more as he pushed the wooden planks off of him, freeing himself from the ensnarement.

"Obwohl ich Feuer liebe, ist es zu viel Feuer ... Wen mache ich nur Spaß? Es ist nicht genug Feuer. (Although I love fire, it's too much fire… who am I kidding? There is not enough fire.)" Matt mumbled as he coughed some more. "It's a good thing I didn't bring my molotovs and that pipe bomb with me otherwise I'd be dead… Shit. I left them with Barleycorn… in the flaming church… I better not go to hell for setting the church on fire."

"Matt!" shouted a female voice, grabbing his attention.

"Kid! You in here?" asked a male's voice, most likely Hunter's.

Coughing could be heard afterwards. "Matt! Answer me!" demanded the female voice in desperation.

"Go make me a sandwich, woman!" Matt shouted as he coughed some more.

"He's over here!" shouted Hunter.

Through the smoke, two silhouettes could be seen running towards; the silhouettes soon revealed themselves to be Hunter and Camryn, running through the smoke with Hunter tripping on some debris.

"Matt! Oh my God! Matt, are you alright?" she asks.

"Yeah, I think so." Matt groaned as Camryn helped him up to his feet.

Matt bent down and grabbed the cane sword off the ground, which was beneath some rubble.

"Here." Camryn suddenly says.

She lifted up her hoodie to reveal that she was wearing Matt's throwable items he made: the molotovs as well as the pipe bomb.

"I managed to salvage them from the burning church." she explains as she hands Matt the belt. "I also managed to get him."

She reached inside her hoodie and pulled out a perfectly intact Barleycorn; Matt grew a wide smile as he chuckled profusely.

"I thought I lost you buddy." he says as he grabs Barleycorn.

"We need to get out of here. We can't keep inhaling the smoke." Hunter says as he coughed.

"Hey!" shouted a deep voice. The three of them turned around to see Bernard on the other side of the backyard. "The whole street is infested with walkers but I found a way to escape!"

"Great! Now let's get the fuck outta here!" Matt shouts as he runs towards Bernard.

Camryn and Hunter followed suit; the three of them jumped over the fence as Bernard lead them to the escape route. Back in the backyard, a pile of rubble could be seen moving; at that moment, a hand with the thumb blown off shot up from the debris. The hand formed a four before the pinky and ring finger bent, forming a two instead.

Turns out Jericho managed to survive the blast as well.

* * *

Bernard, Matt, Camryn, and Hunter ran to the sidewalk where they could see the many walkers walking towards the perimeter wall, most likely chasing after the other four.

"So what's your escape plan?" Matt asks.

Bernard suddenly bent down and grabbed the manhole cover below them; he used all of his strength to pull the cover off, opening the entrance to the sewer.

"We can head through the sewer." Bernard explains.

"What?!" Matt exclaimed at the absurd idea.

"Great idea, Bernard." Camryn compliments. "It'll lead to somewhere far from the community."

"I'm down… well I mean figuratively." Hunter says.

"Do you have any idea how unsanitary sewers are?! They have germs!" Matt shouted in anger.

"You're not scared of one little germ, are you, Matt?" Bernard asks.

"One germ literally caused the human race to be endangered Bernard. So yes." Matt retorts.

"Well you're free to spend the rest of your life up here on this walker infested street, Matt." Bernard says as he climbs downs.

Hunter and Camryn followed Bernard down the sewer, leaving Matt behind. He looked all around him and saw nothing but walkers, which only worsened his situation.

"Hey! Wait for me!" he shouted as he began to climb down the sewer.

He grabbed the manhole cover and slid back into place, closing the entrance.

* * *

Jaren ran towards the wall and jumped, grabbing the ledge as he pulled himself over, successfully jumping the wall. Jake crouched down and offered Joe to step on his hand; Joe stepped on Jake's hand as Louis helped him up. Joe jumped and grabbed the ledge as he began to pull himself. Both Jake and Louis began pushing Joe's legs to help him climb over the wall.

Joe eventually climbed over it and fell to the other side; Jake proceed to jump and grab the ledge followed by Louis who did the same. Eventually, the two pulled themselves up and successfully climbed over the wall. Jake and Louis helped Joe back up on his feet as the four began to make a run for the woods to escape the chaos from behind.

* * *

Hunter jumped into the sewer followed by Matt who was a little late. In front of them, the sewage water was overflowed that managed to become waist deep.

"Oh, this is some gross shit." Matt complained.

"Alright, I'll admit… not the best of my ideas." Bernard stays.

"At least it can't get any worse." Hunter replies.

Right at the moment, a dead body casually floated across the sewage river; the four survivors gave no reactions as they simply just watched the body flow by them.

"A sewer filled with bodies… this is sanitary." Matt says.

"Come on, y'all. We're burning daylight." Bernard tells the group as he starts to walk through the sewage water.

"Didn't I say that once but it was nighttime?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure I was the one who noted it was nighttime." Hunter replies as he follows Bernard.

"Come on, Mattimus Prime. It can't be that bad." Camryn tells her friend.

"Remind me to go to the nearest men's store when we get out. I want to change my clothes… and clean Barleycorn. The sewage is staining his pink fur." Matt says to the group as he follows them.

The group began to walk through the waist deep river of sewage as they continued to find an exit. All around them were various bodies of survivors turned victims of the plague or people who were murdered. The group tried to pay as little attention to the bodies but eventually they were overcome by it; bodies continued to flow through the river of sewage

"It's just a storm sewer. It is _just_ a storm sewer." Matt kept telling himself.

"It doesn't smell like one." Hunter replies.

"Matty, I'm pretty sure this is sewage." Camryn tells her friend.

"Matt, my man, face it. We are walking through shit." Bernard comments from up ahead.

"Fantastisch. (Fantastic.) My fifth year teacher always told me my life would be filled with shit. I guess Ms. Steinbeck was right, crazy bitch." Matt complains as he avoids a body.

Bernard chuckled a bit. "Hey, Matt," he calls out. "try to keep your head above water. Don't trip, now." Bernard began to chuckle some more.

"Where do you think this sewer leads to?" Hunter asks.

"No idea." Camryn replies. "If it's like any other sewer, probably to some sort of plantation facility or something. I'm not sure. I don't know much about sewers… for obvious reasons."

"Let's hope it'll lead far away from the community." Hunter replies.

"Are we really gonna leave all those people behind? They gave us a home… for about a day." Camryn says.

"Trust me. Nothing pains me more than leaving those poor people behind to deal with the Timberwolves." Bernard replies. "But we _have_ to keep moving! Hopefully to a secure place where we'll ALL be safe."

"Here's a pleasant thought." Matt suddenly speaks up. "Any one of us trips and falls or gets dragged under, we're gonna be fully submerged in shit water." The other three groaned as Matt was still focused on the sewer. "Seriously, is no one else freaked out right now? We are walking through a sewer! A sewer filled with bodies! This is probably the most unsanitary thing on Earth even _with_ the walkers!"

"Matt!" Bernard sharply says in an irritated tone. "If I give you a piggyback ride, will you shut up about the sewer?"

"I will kill a deer in cold blood and cook it for you however you like if you give me a piggyback ride." Matt replies.

"Hey, Mattster." Camryn suddenly says with a mischievous smile on her face. "Splash fight?"

"Don't you dare!" Matt shouts.

"Hey, if anyone needs a bathroom break, now's the time." Hunter suddenly says.

"Bad advice! BAD advice!" Matt replies back in a panicked tone as the four continued down the sewer.

* * *

Jake and Louis set Joe down onto a random rock with Joe groaning in pain. "God! This hurts." Joe groaned.

"Looks like no major artery was hit." Jake says as he inspected the bullet wound. "You should be good."

Louis suddenly grabbed Joe's jacket and ripped it before placing it over the wound, covering it. "This should keep the bleeding still until we find some medical supplies." Louis says. "Wherever they may be."

"You know, when I first met you Louis, I thought you were some panicky guy who didn't know a thing about this world but I guess I was wrong." Joe says.

"When I met you, I thought you were lame." Louis replies.

Joe waited for Louis to continue, except he didn't. "Aaaaand?" Joe asks, trying to get him to continue his sentence.

"No. That's it. I still think you're lame." Louis says.

Joe pouted. "Does no one respect a professor anymore?" he asks himself.

"Can't believe he killed my sister." Jaren mumbled as he punched a tree. "That bastard killed Melony!"

"Jaren, calm down." Joe tells him.

"No!" Jaren shouted as he ripped a piece of bark off the tree. "He killed my sister for no reason! I told Bernard it wasn't a good idea to let him and his homo boyfriend with him! That long haired faggot!"

"Jaren! Shut up, will ya?!" Jake shouted. "It's one thing hating someone for someone else's death, but it's another to be just immature and using even more immature insults that are extremely offensive!"

"You shut up! You don't know what I'm going through!" Jaren shouts at Jake as he points at him.

"For your information, I do." Jake tells him. "I lost my little brother but you don't see me throwing a tantrum. You want to know why? Because I accepted his death and moved on and I'm currently living on for the both of us."

"Your little brother wasn't murdered I presume."

"Matt doesn't seem like the type of guy to murder someone in cold blood." Joe says.

"I don't even know who we're talking about." Louis reveals.

"You kidding me?! He looked EXACTLY like the type to murder someone in cold blood!" Jaren shouts in rage. "That bastard probably _does_ enjoy killing people for the fun of it! I bet he gets rock hard just thinking about killing someone that sick bastard of a prick! When I find him, I'm gonna kill him nice and slow so I can avenge Melony!"

"Maybe you got it all wrong." Jake suddenly says. "Maybe Matt didn't kill your sister. Maybe your sister-"

"What?" Jaren asks, interjecting the man. "That she killed herself? My sister isn't that kind of person! She's not suicidal! I KNOW for a fact that Matt killed her!"

"Did you actually see him do it?" Joe asks.

"No." Jaren sheepishly replies. "But I saw him with the weapon in the hand."

"Well there is an old saying. 'Innocent until proven guilty.'" Joe says. "Maybe you should listen to that phrase."

"Maybe you should shut up before I stick my foot up your ass!"

With that, Jaren snapped the bark in his hands in half and proceeded to storm off deeper into the woods. Jake blew an exasperated sigh as Louis tightened the homemade bandage on Joe's leg.

"Fucking hate that guy." Jake mumbled to himself.

* * *

The four survivors continued to walk through the sewers, all having tired expressions on their faces. Sure enough, Bernard was giving Matt a piggyback ride, though he seemed to be irritated at the situation at hand. Meanwhile, Matt had a carefree expression while he appeared to be falling asleep on Bernard's back; Camryn on the other hand was holding Barleycorn for Matt.

"This is some outrageous shit." Bernard mumbled in slight anger as he continued to give Matt a piggyback ride.

"Come on! I'm in a hurry!" Matt exclaimed impatiently. "The sooner we're out of this sewer, the sooner I can breathe fresh air! Muss schnell! Schnell!"

"I'm getting tired of walking in this sewer." Camryn complains.

"I don't know if it's just me but I don't smell sewage anymore." Hunter comments.

"We've been in this sewer for too long." Bernard says.

"Hey Matt, what's new?" Matt asked himself. "Oh, not much. I couldn't jump a goddamn wall to escape a burning community attacked by psychopaths so I'm crawling through a shit filled sewer as an alternative escape. You?"

"You think you can stop with the complaining, Mattinator?" Camryn asks, giving Matt a nickname.

"I am literally walking through a freakin' toilet. I didn't think my life could get anymore shittier." Matt complains.

"Hey guys, be honest… are my muscles getting any bigger?" Hunter suddenly asks as he looks at his forearms.

"I don't know… Maybe?" Camryn replies in an uncertain tone.

"I knew it." Hunter says in a certain tone. "All this running around and fighting walkers and climbing and stuff is making me buff. I'm gonna be like Johnny Bravo soon."

"Don't know who that is." Matt replies.

At that moment, Bernard tripped on something causing him to almost slip and fall; he caught himself by grabbing onto a pipe onto the wall, but without almost dropping Matt. The teen managed to grab onto the same pipe Bernard held onto.

"Shit!" he curses loudly. "This sewer is gonna be the death of me and ruin my favorite jacket."

"The jacket with walker guts, blood, and brains all over it?" Camryn asks, glancing at Matt's stained purple jacket.

"Blood and guts come out. Sewage water doesn't… Don't ask me how I know that." Matt replies.

"Hell," Bernard suddenly speaks up. "sometimes it's best not to find out what you don't know."

"You think those rumors about alligators in sewers are real?" Hunter asks. "Cuz I sure hope not."

"I think those only exist in New York." Camryn replies.

"We're walking in waist deep waste, Camryn." Matt says. "I wouldn't be surprised if we found a goddamn family of alligators down here."

"Let's hope we don't find _any_ alligators down here." Bernard comments.

"This sewer is just a cesspool for disease. I can feel the bottoms of my feet growing fungus." Matt says.

"You guys better be in good health." Bernard says up front. "Cuz if you have any cuts down the south of the border, you're a dead man."

"I thought you were supposed to be an optimist, Bernard."

"I am. I'm just warnin' y'all."

The four survivors suddenly turned the corner of the sewer where they immediately saw sunlight. The rays of the sun also revealed a yellow ladder leading up to the surface.

"Look! A ladder!" Bernard exclaimed as he pointed to the ladder.

"Thank Christ! Now we can get out of this sewer." Matt says in extreme relief.

"Alright! Let's keep moving!" Hunter exclaimed in excitement as he ran passed the three, splashing sewage onto them.

"Ugh! Come on! Jesus! Hunter!" Bernard scolded.

The former ghost hunter was the first to climb up the ladder, followed by Bernard, Matt, and finally Camryn. Hunter opened the manhole from below and poked his head out. He saw an empty street, clear skies, and no walkers; he looked back down to the other three.

"Hey, it seems safe." he says.

"Thank Jesus. We need a break." Bernard says.

Hunter climbed out of the sewer as he offered Bernard his hand, to which he took. Matt climbed out and offered Camryn his hand; Camryn smiled at the thoughtful action as she reached to grab his hand. However, at the last second, Matt pulled away his own hand.

"No, I'm asking you to hand me Barleycorn." Matt clarifies.

Camryn scoffs in annoyance as she rolls her eyes before handing Matt the stuffed animal toy.

"Hey. Dairyland!" Bernard suddenly calls out. The three turned their heads to see that he was looking at a billboard advertisement for the Dairyland Amusement Park. "Shit, I used to go there when I was a kid!"

"I used to go to church as a kid. Look where that got us." Matt replies.

"Did you now? Go to church I mean?" Hunter asks.

"Nah, that's a lie. Never went to church once. Except when I went to a family friend's funeral, then the whole place got food poisoning cuz of Jesus' wine or something." Matt explains.

"How can wine be poisoned… actually, nevermind. I don't want to know." Camryn quickly adds.

"We're low on supplies." Bernard notes before turning around; his face suddenly brightened up. "Gun store! And it's dry!"

"How lucky are we to have escaped right near a gun store?" Matt asks.

"Pretty damn lucky." Hunter responds.

"Let's hope that gun store still has guns." Camryn says.

"You guys want to hear a prediction?" Matt asks.

"No." Camryn replies.

"Naw." Bernard replies.

"Sure." Hunter replies.

"Hunter!" the other two exclaimed at the same time.

"There's not gonna be any guns. Watch." Matt predicts.

"Why do you have to be so negative, Matt?" Bernard asks.

* * *

Several Heaven's Gates members were lined up against a wall with blind folds over their eyes as well as their hands tied behind their backs. The last of the survivor Heaven's Gates survivors that surrendered was placed next to another member by a Timberwolf. Cyrus stared at the group of Heaven's Gates with a disappointed expression with a hint of anger.

"I am so… disappointed in you guys." he tells the prisoners. "You guys didn't even put up a good fight. What was the point? I'll tell you what the point was… Nothing. I don't like wasting ammo on pathetic worms that don't even belong on the face of this planet. You guys aren't worth my time." He suddenly turned to a young girl, crying as she kneeled with both of her knees. "Now here!" One of the Timberwolves forced her up as Cyrus began to caress her face. "Shhh. Shh. It's okay, beautiful." he tells her, trying to stop her from crying.

"Please stop." the girl begs.

Cyrus suddenly handed the girl his Desert Eagle, forcing it into her hand. "We're going to play a game, alright?" he says.

"No."

"You're going to be the executioner." Cyrus continues. He suddenly pointed to two Heaven's Gates members. "You're either going to choose him... or him."

"Please! Please don't!" shouts one of the members.

"Don't make me do this." the girl whimpers.

Cyrus began to caress her face some more, trying to comfort her. "Shhh. It's okay. It's okay, Jennifer." he tells her.

"My name's Sophie." she tells him.

"Not anymore it's not." he replies. "These guys don't know your name. You don't know your name. So let me tell you what your real name is. Your real fucking name... Either way, one of these guys, they're not going to live."

"Please! Please, Sophie! I have a wife!" begs one of the men.

The other man gawked at him. "You fucking liar!" he shouts, pushing the man.

Cyrus forced Sophie to point the gun at the man, smiling sadistically while Sophie continued to whimper. "Please, Sophie! Spare me! Take him! He's an alcoholic! Please! PLEASE!"

***BANG!***

"AAAAAAAH!" Sophie screamed as Cyrus forced her to pull the trigger.

The man she shot in the head fell over dead while the other man began to cry, turning to Sophie with a glare. "YOU FUCKING BITCH!" he shouts.

***BANG!***

Cyrus forced her to pull the trigger again, killing the man instantly as Sophie screamed. While the young girl began to cry, Cyrus began to chuckle as he took the gun out of her hand. "WOOOW!" he exclaims. "I tell you to take one, you take both! You greedy worm!"

"You said only one!" Sophie shouts.

"And YOU took two." Cyrus chuckled some more. He suddenly turned to one of his men. "Take her. We're taking her back to the Wolf's Den."

As two the Timberwolves carried the crying Sophie away, another Timberwolf approached his leader. "Cyrus." whispers the Timberwolf as he approached his leader.

"Not now, Doug. I'm busy dealing with the hostages." Cyrus whispers back to his ally.

"It is Jericho, sir. You may want to see dis." the Timberwolf says.

Cyrus closes his eyes as he sighed in response. "Chatterbox." he calls out to a Timberwolf. The Timberwolf turned around, revealing that they were wearing a rubber white rabbit mask, hiding their face "Take my place but don't execute them until I say so, understood."

Chatterbox pulled out a cassette tape and pressed a button. _~Yes. I understand.~_ An automated woman's voice was heard from the tape.

"Show me where that shithead is." Cyrus tells the Timberwolf as he lead him to his right hand man.

Cyrus approached the burning house where several Timberwolves were clumped up together. Many of them were murmuring as they looked down onto the ground.

"Alright. What the hell is going-" Cyrus immediately stopped talking as a slightly shocked expression formed on his face. "My God… What happened?"

"Cinderella did this." said a voice in a raspy tone.

"You look horrible, Jericho… This might be a downgrade to your actual appearance." Cyrus chuckled afterwards. "Why are you looking so glum, chum? You survived, didn't you?"

"So did the scrawny little prick. I swear, the next time I see him… he's dead." Jericho replies.

"Naw you won't." Cyrus reassures. "We need him alive… he's my successor. I can feel it… He may not know it but me and him are one of the same… we are identical… sooner or later he'll realize the truth. The truth about his true identity."

"If it was up to me-"

"But it's not up to you, now is it?" Cyrus asks rhetorically. "You obey _my_ orders. I am your superior." Cyrus suddenly pulled out his Desert Eagle and pointed it at his right hand man. "If you're not gonna do what I'm asking you to do, I'm gonna throw you back into the police station where I found you. You understand?"

Jericho didn't make any movements at all but his face was partially covered from the hood he was wearing.

"If you're not gonna help me, then why do I need you?... Or maybe I don't." Cyrus says.

He slowly pulled the hammer down of his Desert Eagle while Jericho visibly flinched at the sound alone. Cyrus got close to Jericho's hooded face to the point where he was mere centimetres away from his nose.

"Who are you?" he asks.

Jericho gulped before groaning in pain once more while his breath became shaky. Either from fear or not was unknown.

"Cyrus." Jericho replies in the same raspy tone.

The Timberwolf leader smiled victoriously. "That's what I like to hear." Cyrus stood back up as he looked down at Jericho. "Get him back to the Wolf's Den infirmary and patch him up. The second your better, Jericho, you track down Cinderella and bring him back here. Understand?"

"Yes sir." Jericho replies.

Cyrus suddenly turned around. "Chatterbox!" he called out. Chatterbox turned around to face their leader. "Get everyone in the truck. We're heading back to the Wolf's Den… and kill them."

A few Heaven's Gates members gasped at the last sentence; Chatterbox aimed their AK-47 from the hip at the line of prisoners… then they pulled the trigger.

* * *

Bernard broke through the wooden planks that were boarding up the door with his elbow. He reached inside to unlock the door before opening it. The four survivors followed him inside as Camryn closed the door behind them while the other three began to scavenge for supplies.

Turns out Matt was right. The gun store was completely empty save for a few items lying around.

"See? No guns. What did I say?" Matt asks.

"How does it feel to be so right, Matt?" Bernard asks with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Not good." Matt answers as he shakes his head.

"Ohoho! Shit! A grenade launcher!" Hunter suddenly exclaims in excitement as he picks up the grenade launcher

"What?" Matt asks, baffled as to why there would be such a deadly weapon in just a hunting store.

"Maybe someone got rid of it?" Camryn theorizes.

"That's… one theory." Matt says.

"I'm gonna make some zombie soup with this!" Hunter giddily exclaims.

"Holy shit. An M16!" Camryn exclaims as she grabs the assault rifle. "It comes with the ammo too!"

"Why the hell are there dangerous guns in just a local gun store?" Matt asks. "Isn't that illegal? What is this? Grand Theft Auto? Where are the shotguns and hunting rifles?! How come-... Wait a minute. Why am I complaining. These are great guns for the zombie apocalypse!"

"Seems those are the only two guns around here, cuz I can't find anymore." Bernard states from behind the counter.

"As I was saying, this place is a shithole." Matt immediately says.

Bernard turned to the side of the counter where there was a note from the military. He picked it up and began to read it as he walked around. Matt meanwhile took his place behind the counter as he walked over to the cash register.

"Report unusual behavior…"

Matt pressed a button on the cash register, causing it to open. He smiled mischievously as he saw that there was still money inside.

"Barricade your homes…"

Hunter opened up a gun locker, revealing that there were ammunition for the grenade launcher he was carrying; he couldn't help but grow a smile on his face.

"Avoid all contact with infected individuals…"

Camryn loaded up the M16 and aimed down the sights before turning to the gun with a smile on her face.

"Wait for official instructions." Bernard suddenly chuckled as he crumpled up the paper. "Heh. Wait my ass."

"Bernard." Matt suddenly calls out. The older gentleman turned around to see that the teen in front of him was handing him Horatio's cane sword. "You can have this. Stole it off from the asshole who ran Heaven's Gates."

Bernard grabs the cane and immediately examines it, before turning to Matt with an unamused look on his face. "It's a cane." he simply states. Matt grabbed the bottom part and pulled it off, revealing the sword part of the cane sword. Bernard smiled as he chuckled a bit. "Thanks." he says.

"No problem. I can imagine you with a cane." Matt replies.

"What about you, son?" Matt patted his shock prod in response with a smile on his face. "Do you always bring that with you?"

"Had this since the start." Matt answers.

"Now that we have weapons, any ideas?" Hunter asks.

"We could go and try to find Joe and the others." Bernard replies.

"With Jaren? Nu-huh. That asshole wants to kill me because he thought I killed Melony." Matt says.

"How did she die?" Camryn asks, knowing she was already dead.

Matt blew a heavy sigh. "She couldn't take this world anymore… so she off'd herself with that cane sword… Poor girl. I knew exactly what she was going through as well. A young girl like her thrown into a world like this… it just ain't right." he says.

"You mean _this_ cane sword?" Bernard asks.

"She asked if she could use it… I didn't think she meant it in that way." Matt says.

"We didn't even get a chance to bury her."

"Worst of all, we didn't destroy the brain. So she's out there as a freakin' walker." Matt reveals.

"Poor girl doesn't deserve a fate like that. She was too innocent for this world."

"Indeed she was."

The group fell into a difficult silence as they all held a moment to just grieve and mourn for the loss of their friend. "I hate to be that guy but we should probably keep moving." Matt suddenly says.

"Yeah." Bernard blows a huge sigh. "We should. Come on. Let's go find our friends."

With that said, the four exited the gun store as they went on to search for their friends.

* * *

Cyrus stood in his office as he looked down at the courtyard down below, watching his minions do their various assignments. Some were lounging around either drinking beer or smoking cigarettes, some made a homemade bonfire made out of tires and had a pole installed on a stage, where a stripper was busy dancing for them. Others were playing poker by some tables and idling drinking. There wasn't much work for them today since they already enforced the base. The only people missing were Matt and the others.

At that moment, there was a knock at his office doors. "Come in." he says.

The doors opened, revealing four people. Jericho, in his hooded attire hiding his face, the medic of the Timberwolves with a name tag that read A. Cardino, and two guards. "He's all better, sir." Dr. Cardino replies.

"How do you feel?" Cyrus asks.

"Like half of my body has second degree burns." Jericho replies in a raspy tone.

"His vocal cords are partially damaged from inhaling so much smoke." Dr. Cardino explains.

"Such fast recovery." Cyrus notes.

"He's heavily sedated sir. I had to use a lot of pain meds. With the conditions like the apocalypse, I'm left with barely any resources and materials to perform a professional surgery, but nonetheless I did my best."

"I have a feeling Jericho's health isn't the main theme of your visit, is it Dr. Cardino?" Cyrus asks, finally turning around to face the two.

"As the doctor of the Timberwolves, I'm ordering Jericho to remain here at the base until further notice." Dr. Cardino says. "He isn't fit to be out in the field searching for these survivors. Until he makes a full recovery, I'm suspending him from any outside activities."

"You know, Giovanni Murrdock would've said otherwise." Cyrus says.

"Forgive my rudeness sir, but Giovanni Murrdock was a madman not fit to be a surgeon let along a doctor. He was deranged, sadistic, and had a warped view on his own career. He was called the Killer Doctor for a reason, sir." Dr. Cardino replies.

"Unfortunately, I have to agree with you." Cyrus replies as he turns his head back to the window.

Out in the front gates of the Timberwolf base was the Wall of Walkers growling in place as spears impaled their decomposing bodies. One particular walker stood out from the rest; this walker was the zombified version of none other than Giovanni Murrdock himself, who has been placed in the Wall of Walkers after his death.

"Then you also must agree that he was not in a healthy mental state to become the Timberwolves doctor." Dr. Cardino replies.

"That's where the similarities end, Dr. Cardino." Cyrus says. "I didn't choose Murrdock to _just_ become the head doctor and surgeon. I chose him to be the head torturer to extract the inner demons of our prisoners in order to grant them new identities as well as a new life to those who oppose us so that they shall become our allies rather than our enemies. True he was a psychopath but he was also cunning and remorseless. The perfect traits for a torturer to have. I would do it myself but I'm a far too busy man to do so."

"You're making a mistake by letting Cinderella live." Jericho suddenly says.

Cyrus turns to him and gives him a look of disappointment. "Am I now?" he asks.

"Cinderella deserves to die." Jericho continues. "He's nothing but a rat to society that needs to be exterminated. He needs to be killed as soon as possible."

"You don't see him the way I see him. The way you see him, you view him as an expendable object. In reality he's the key to my philosophy." Cyrus explains.

"What do you see in him that's making you treat him like your own son?" Jericho asks.

"Something you wouldn't understand, Jericho." Cyrus begins. "I saw something in the boy that sparked potential… He's strong, both physically and mentally, he's perfected the art of improvisation much like me, he's cunning, intelligent, and strategic. He doesn't realize it yet but soon he'll finally understand what my philosophy means. The world is a cold hearted mistress that is meant for the survival of the fittest, where only the strong survive. But what does it mean to be strong? Does it mean to be physically and mentally strong? In short… yes. But… the key factor to this revolves all around one thing… Identity. To become a superior human being and the ultimate survivor, one needs to be granted the God like identity that is… me. One needs to embrace becoming Cyrus in order to live in this world. God brought me down onto this unforsaken land to spread the philosophy! Cinderella will soon realize that me and him are one of the same, that we are in fact the same person… He'll spread my philosophy to other communities and soon, as Cyrus, we will overcome this 'infection of the dead' and recreate a new world… A new Earth. After he finds his new identity, he'll become my successor."

"I'm pretty sure he'll drive this philosophy to the ground. I want to murder this kid so badly… for what he did to me." Jericho raspily replies with hatred in his voice.

"You'll do no such thing. You will stay here at the base and recover from your wounds. Do you understand Jericho… Or should I call you Pucker Uppenheimer?" Dr. Cardino asks with a sly smile on his face.

Jericho turned to him and, though it wasn't really clear, it was quite obvious that Jericho was giving him a glare. A moment of silence loomed over the area before Jericho quickly made a move to attack Dr. Cardino, only for the two guards to grab him and shove him to the wall before pinning him there.

"You know…" Dr. Cardino begins as he pulls out a surgeon's knife. "I take pride in taking good care of my patients, but when they don't take care of themselves," Dr. Cardino suddenly places the knife by Jericho's neck. "it breaks my poor old heart."

Jericho eyed Dr. Cardino from his hood, his face still hidden; Cyrus meanwhile gave a stoic expression at the scene in front of him as he took a hit from his cigarette.

"I guess I don't have much of a choice." Jericho replies.

"Good." Dr. Cardino replies before turning to his leader. "Jericho will remain here until further notice. I advise you to pick out someone else to go on this manhunt for Cinderella."

"If that's the doctor's orders, then who am I to disagree with them. The doctor knows best, am I right?" Cyrus replies in a slight sarcastic manner.

"I can tell sarcasm from witty banter, Cyrus." Dr. Cardino says.

"Yeah, no, I don't care." Cyrus replies.

"You seem to not care about anything or anyone but yourself, Cyrus." Jericho says. "It's gonna be your downfall, soon. We oughta kill the scrawny looking prick as soon as we see him. To hell with your philosophy. It's obvious he's not gonna accept. He's just a lost cause… and soon… you'll realize that yourself. He's just a kid. A worthless, pathetic kid… and I'm gonna enjoy taking his life from him and I'm gonna enjoy watching his life leave his eyes."

Dr. Cardino rolled his eyes as he turned around. "Come on." he says. "We're getting you back to the infirmary under guard."

With that, Jericho was escorted out of the office, leaving only Cyrus behind. The whole office room was silent as Cyrus continued to look outside, watching a prisoner get dumped into the Well of Souls, a name for the huge pit of walkers. He took a hit from his cigarette as he blew smoke into the air; he suddenly turned to the doors where the doctor and his right hand man left, before turning back around to look out the window.

"Asshole." Cyrus mumbled to himself, referring to Jericho.

* * *

Matt, Hunter, Bernard, and Camryn continued to walk down the street with their own weapons. Matt had his shock prod, Hunter got the grenade launcher, Bernard had the cane sword that Matt gave him, and finally Camryn had the M16 she picked up.

"Christ, I reek of shit water." Matt suddenly complains.

"Look on the bright side, Mattinite, at least we're out of the sewer." Camryn replies.

"Thank Christ we are." Matt replies. "If we have to crawl through one more sewer, I'm gonna shoot Hunter in the ass."

"Hey, what?" Hunter asks in an offended tone.

"You think anybody is left in this city?" Bernard suddenly asks as they pass through the small town they were in.

"Based on the eerie silence, followed by not seeing a single living soul since we arrived here, I'm guessing… no." Camryn says.

"At least we don't have any Timberwolves to worry about." Matt comments.

"Or real wolves. I hate real wolves." Hunter adds.

"You know what I especially hate other than the American government? Bears."

"Really? Why's that?" Camryn asks.

"Cuz bears are pricks, I tell you. Buncha fatasses."

"What did a bear ever do to you, Matt?" Bernard asks.

"Let's just say I'm missing a kidney because of one."

"Ew." Camryn mutters in disgust. "You're an interesting yet mysterious while at the same time a dangerous man, Mattatron."

"Thank you?" Matt replies in an uncertain tone.

"How are we on supplies?" Bernard asks.

"We got weapons. I got some pain meds in my back pocket. I guess what we need is food. Too bad you guys took our backpack filled with junk food when you captured us." Matt replies, glaring at Camryn.

"I said sorry!" Camryn defended.

"I guess we should hit stores to see if they have any food lying around." Hunter suggests.

"Good thinking." Bernard replies as he turns his head to a hardware store. "Let's search that store. It may have supplies."

"Or it may have dozens of walkers roaming around… still it's worth checking out." Matt says.

The four approached the hardware store, which was no surprise was boarded up with boards. Bernard grabbed the handle and tried to open it, only realizing it was locked from the inside. Matt tapped his shoulder and motioned him to move out of the way, to which the older gentleman did. Matt suddenly kicked the door open, even knocked right one off it's hinges, with just one powerful kick. The teen stepped over the broken boards and glass as the three behind him followed him inside.

"Man, I haven't been in a hardware store in a long time. Almost forgot what one looks like." Hunter says.

"How the-... I'm not gonna ask." Matt replies.

"You think the vending machines are still full?" Bernard asks

"I don't think any of the food in the vending machines are even edible anymore." Hunter says.

"You ever tried edibles?" Matt suddenly asks.

"No." Hunter replies.

"What are edibles?" Camryn asks.

"Weed you can eat." Matt answers.

"You can eat marijuana?" Camryn asks in disbelief.

"Uh, yeah. Why do you think weed brownies exist?"

"Have you tried them?" she asks.

"Hell yeah, I have." Matt replies. "I used to get stoned all the time in high school. There was this shack at the back of the school near the fields and me and a couple of guys used to always smoke weed in there. We called it the Crack Shack. This one time our buddy Dave actually brought cocaine to the Crack Shack and, well, you can guess what happened."

"Did you ever get caught?" Camryn asks.

"We all got caught. I got expelled, another kid got sent to juvenile hall, another kid actually dropped out and left the town. Never saw that kid again. Afterwards, I got a job at a Gus Game's n Grub before transferring over to a junkyard. That's when I learned how to properly make the stuff… as well as make counterfeit money." Matt explains.

"Wow… you had a very, VERY tough time growing up." Camryn says.

"Hey, who said I hated it? It was the best time of my life. If the world didn't go to shit, I'm pretty sure I would be in charge of an counterfeit/drug cartel… that or a sailor." Matt says.

"Why a sailor?"

"Don't ask."

"Jackpot!" Bernard suddenly shouts. The two turned to see Bernard grabbing bags and bags of chips and various other junk food from the vending machine. "Hunter! Grab a bag! We're loaded on food! I hope they have my favorite Choco-Bars!"

"Hey, Bernard! Check this out!" Hunter suddenly called out.

Bernard turned around to see Hunter staring at a shelf; the older man approached the former ghost hunter to see what he was looking at, which was revealed to be a chainsaw.

"Hell yeah. I gotta take the chainsaw." he says as he grabs the chainsaw.

Matt meanwhile walked over to another shelf of the hardware store and found an axe by a fire extinguisher. "This brings back some good memories." he says.

"Saved someone from a fire, Matt?" Bernard asks.

"Nope. Family of three." Matt replies.

"We're stocked up on weapons and food." Camryn announces. "I think we're good to go."

"Go where exactly?" Hunter asks.

"Well… I don't know." Camryn sheepishly replies. "I want to find our friends but it's gonna be a shot in the dark."

"Speakin' of the dark, it's gonna be nighttime soon. We should find shelter." Bernard suggests.

"We'll find shelter when it becomes dark. Right now, I want to find our friends."

"So what's the plan?" Matt asks.

"We continue through this city until we either find a community or find our friends." Camryn says.

"That's gotta be the most stupidest plan I ever agreed with." Matt replies.

"Well I'm sorry I'm not good at making plans, Mattalicious." Camryn retorts. "What do you propose we do?"

Matt opened his mouth to say something only to get stuck before realization hit him. "Alright, so I have nothing. Doesn't mean I won't have something in the future." he says.

"Well until then, I say we go with Camryn's idea." Bernard. "It's the only idea we have."

"Okay, but what's the main location we should go to?" Matt asks.

"We should get out of this city, first. It's gonna be night soon." Bernard says.

"If anyone doesn't have any better plans, I say go with that one." Hunter says.

"Alright. So we're heading out of the city to get the hell out of here. Right?" Matt asks.

"This plan's all over the place but it's the only one we got, Mattifier." Camryn quips.

"Alright, fine. But I don't like it."

"Since when was the last time you liked anything, kid?" Hunter asks.

"Shit, I don't even know." Matt replies

"Alright," Bernard suddenly speaks up. "we're burning daylight. We better keep moving."

With that said, the four exited the hardware store as they began their journey towards the mall on the other side of the small town.

* * *

Chatterbox and an unknown woman stood in front of the desk of where Cyrus was sitting, both standing straight, tall and still. "So in replacement of Jericho, I'm sending you two out into the field to search for Cinderella." Cyrus explains.

On his desk were two files with pictures of the two Timberwolves in front of him. The name Abigail Locke was written on the files along with the rest of their profile, such as height, weight, occupation before apocalypse, how many people they've killed and how many walkers they killed. Abigail killed at least six people while she wrote 1000+ on her profile. Meanwhile, Chatterbox had at least 160 people killed and very few walkers killed; however, the majority of Chatterbox's file was left blank, leaving their entire character a mystery.

"You two are the best in tracking out in the field and I'm quite confident that you will not let me down, because if you do… it'll be the Well of Souls for you two, you understand?" Cyrus asks in a stern voice.

"Yes, sir." Abigail replies in a firm tone.

_~Yes. I understand.~_ Chatterbox replies with their cassette player.

"That's what I like to hear." Cyrus replies. "You two are dismissed."

With that, Chatterbox and Abigail exited the office room, leaving the Timberwolf leader to himself. He sighed heavily as he rubbed his temples in frustration, annoyance, and other emotions all at once. He turned his head to a picture frame on his desk; the picture was of a beautiful blonde woman with golden hair that shined in the sun as well as a young girl with black hair in two pigtails. He grabbed the photo and began to caress it, reminiscing about his pre-apocalyptic life.

He sighed heavily afterwards. "A day doesn't go by where I miss you my sweet Nicole and Hailey." he says to the picture. "I promise you two, I'll make things right by fixing the world. By giving it a new identity… For you, my Sweet Pea."

He kissed the frame as he placed it back on his desk.

* * *

The four survivors continued to walk through the empty streets; it has been hours since they left the hardware store and it was already nighttime. "Do you ever get the sinking feeling that something bad is going to happen?" Camryn suddenly asks.

"All the time." Matt replies.

"Not usually." Bernard replies.

"I try to stay positive. For instance, we haven't seen a single Timberwolf when we first entered this city. I think we're in the clear." Hunter responds.

"Why do you ask, Cam-Cam?" Matt asks.

"I dunno. I just can't help but feel like something bad is going to happen." Camryn responds.

"You know what my remedy is for that? Ignoring it. Always works for me… Wait, actually no. It doesn't. I once forgot to pick up my grandmother at the hospital this one time. Ended up going to bed with no dinner while sleeping in the backyard by my prick of a father." Matt explains.

"There are so many words to describe you, Mattable. You know that?" Camryn says.

"Is devilishly handsome one of those words?" Matt asks in a cocky tone.

"Surprisingly yes." Camryn mumbled to herself.

"What was that?"

"N-Nothing!"

"Look on the bright side, kid. We're no longer in the sewer _AND_ we escaped the Timberwolves." Hunter says.

"What's with you and bright sides, Hunter?" Matt suddenly asks. "It's started to annoy me."

"Hey, come on man. Don't give Hunter shit for being positive. Someone needs to stay positive in the apocalypse." Bernard says.

"Thank you, Bernard." Hunter thanks. "If only you were we met you a long time ago. The kid has been giving me shit since the day he rescued me."

"It's all in the meaning of love… Nah. That's a lie." Matt says.

"Thanks, kid." Hunter sarcastically replies.

The three turned the corner of the empty street and immediately saw a crashed helicopter in the way. "Shit. The road's block." Bernard says.

"Would you believe me if I said this was the second time we encountered a crash helicopter blocking our path in the street?" Matt asks.

"Really? Where was the first one?" Bernard asks.

"Greensboro. Wait we're not in Greensboro, are we?" he asks.

"Nah. We in Newburg." Bernard replies.

"Ah."

"We could do what we did last time. Cross over it." Hunter suggests.

"I wouldn't recommend that." Camryn says as she squints her eyes.

"Why's that?" Matt asks.

"The other side of the helicopter is infested with walkers and parked cars. Looks like a traffic jam." Camryn says as she squints through the opened doors of the helicopter.

"So we're gonna have to find a detour." Matt says in defeat.

"Let's head through these offices." Bernard says as he points to the side of the street.

The four made their way to the abandoned building on the side of the street; Bernard carefully opened the door as the glass immediately broke. The four stepped cautiously on the broken glass as they turned their heads to the back entrance, realizing it was blocked off by several cabinets and other furniture.

"Back way is blocked. We're gonna have to head up the stairs." Bernard announces.

"God, I hate stairs." Matt complains.

"It's good cardio, Mattiplier." Camryn says.

The four marched their way towards the stairway hall before going up them; they walked to the second floor which was filled with cubicles with the lights out.

"Jesus. This place is dark." Matt says.

Through the dim lighting, they could make out several silhouettes along with hearing them growling. "Walkers. We should take them out." Camryn suggests.

Matt grabbed his axe as Hunter grabbed his knife while Bernard grabbed his cane sword. The three approached the walkers in the dim light as the walkers took notice of the four survivors. Hunter kicked one of the walkers in the knee, causing it to fall down as he jabbed the knife right into the skull of the walker. Matt however raised his axe in the air and slammed it onto the head of the walker, killing it instantly. Bernard jabbed the third walker with the cane sword at a distance in the head.

Camryn walked passed the three as she approached a fourth walker; the walker turned to her and growled as it extended it's hands towards her. Camryn however used the butt of her M16 to smash it against the skull of the walker, causing it to fall down. The walker fell down but immediately tried to get up, only for Camryn to quickly stomp on it's head, killing it.

The four continued to walk through the offices, passing by multiple corpses on the ground or dead in their chairs. Matt swung his axe like a baseball bat, completely and swiftly decapitating a walker in front of him, splattering blood all over his jacket as well as Barleycorn strapped to his chest. Bernard jabbed his cane sword on a walker crawling on the ground, killing it as the sword got stabbed into it's skull.

"Continue up the stairs." Matt says as the four approached the stairway.

The four walked up the stairs as they encountered a lone walker; Matt immediately placed his axe away before he grabbed the throat of the walker. The walker growled viciously at him as he latched it's hand onto his shoulders. Acting quickly, Matt quickly headbutted the walker, loosening it's grip on his shoulders. He suddenly pushed the walker down the little hole between the stairs, sending it falling to the ground. A loud SPLAT was heard as blood poured out of the walker's head from down below.

They entered the third floor of the building, which was surprisingly another office area. The same layout was used for this one as the one office area down below. Cubicles and dim lights, as well as more walkers. Matt grabbed his axe as Hunter wielded his knife in his hand. The teen swung his axe as Hunter jabbed the knife in the chin of the walker in front of him, both killing their respective walkers instantly. Bernard suddenly marched through them as he used all of his strength to kick the walker in front of him down the small hallway, sending it to the ground. He approached the down walker before jabbing his cane sword into the forehead of it, killing it instantly.

With the floor cleared, the survivors walked towards the stairway once more, which led to the roof this time. They walked up the stairs and noticed that the door that led to the roof was already opened. The four walked outside and were now on the roof, noticing that there was a wooden plank connecting the two buildings.

"We can walk on these planks." Matt says.

"They don't look sturdy." Bernard says.

Matt was the first to step on the planks, testing it's strength; he suddenly placed his entire foot on it, causing it to creak. He hesitated for a brief second before he slowly began to cross the makeshift bridge. He looked down and immediately saw a bunch of walkers roaming the alleyway from below. He turned back to the adjacent building and continued to carefully walk on the makeshift bridge. Finally, he made it to the end as he felt his heartbeat slow down, relieved that he survived that creaky bridge.

"Alright, come on over. One at a time." he tells the three.

"I'll go next." Hunter says.

Hunter began to carefully cross the bridge as he tried not to look down; he blew a sigh as he tried to calm himself down. Eventually, he made it to the other end, much to his extreme relief. Bernard was the next one to go across the bridge, having a cautious expression though he maintained it by keeping calm. He too eventually made it to the other end, but without having the wooden boards crack a bit.

"You're next, Camryn." Matt says. Camryn looked down at the alleyway below her, which was a bad idea on her part; she blew a sigh as she tried to calm herself down. "Just don't look, Cam." Matt says.

"Right… I can do this." she nervously said. She began to slowly walk on the boards, feeling as though she was about to fall. "Don't look down. Don't look down. Just don't look down."

She placed her foot on a board which immediately began to crack; she gasped as a piece of the board fell onto the alleyway below, all while she looked down.

"Matt! I'm looking doooown!" she shouted in a panicked tone.

"That's the opposite of what I told you to do!" Matt exclaimed back.

She immediately jumped towards the roof, causing the bridge to crumble and fall onto the alleyway. She reached out her hand to at least grab the edge of the building, only to her horror did she realize she came up short.

"Matthew!" she shouted as she began to fall.

Matt immediately grabbed her hand, saving her from falling down into the alleyway. The wooden bridge fell on top of some walkers, killing some while breaking some of their legs. She blew a sigh of relief as she looked up at her hero; Matt however chuckled as he smiled at her.

"Still not my name." he chuckled. "Come on. Upsy daisy."

Matt pulled Camryn back up on the roof, successfully saving her life. He sighed in relief when he was suddenly pulled into a massive hug from Camryn, whom buried her head into his neck. Matt's face flushed as a giant blush appeared on his cheeks as his pupils shrunk, shocked at the sudden action. Hunter and Bernard couldn't help but chuckle at the usual snarky, sarcastic, jerkish Matt, now extremely flustered.

Camryn quickly realized what she was doing and immediately pulled away from the hug as her own cheeks began to redden as well. "Th-Thanks." she shyly says.

"No problem?" Matt questioningly replies.

The Filipina quickly walked away as Matt grew an even more confused look; Bernard and Hunter approached the teen, both having shit eating grins.

"I'll be damned. I've never seen the kid like this before." Hunter says, smiling a bit.

"Ah, young love. I miss those days." Bernard says as he reminisces about his past.

"I know I shouldn't say this but… I have a semi right now." Matt says, still retaining his shocked expression.

Both of their smiles immediately died after that remark. "Alright, well it was nice while it lasted." Bernard says as he walks away.

"Come on, kid. Let's continue this journey." Hunter says to Matt as he walks away as well.

Matt however stood still for a brief moment, still retaining the shocked expression on his face. "Twice in one day… A new record." he says to himself before walking away.

The four approached the end of the building, where there was an open window on the adjacent building. "We can head in through there." Hunter says.

"Does anyone have a light source?" Bernard asks.

"Just my shock prod but I'll be using up my power." Matt answers.

"The gun I have has a flashlight duct taped to the barrel. We could use that." Camryn says.

"Alright, let's go." the other teen replies.

With that, the four jumped through the open window and entered the abandoned building, filled with darkness.

* * *

Jericho laid on the bed in the Wolf's Den infirmary room with an expression mixed with boredom and annoyance, though he was hard to tell with the bandages over his face along with the hood. A loud scream could be heard from the other room along with electricity running, indicating that someone was getting tortured in the other room. At that moment, the screaming stopped as a few seconds passed by. The doors suddenly opened, revealing Dr. Cardino with a lot of blood on his lab coat.

"How's my No. 1 patient doing in here?" he asks.

"Go to hell." Jericho replies.

Dr. Cardino hovered over Jericho's face and gave him a sly smile. "You know," he began. "you are lucky that you survived that accident. Though I will admit, it did number on your face. You're just lucky you only lost _one_ limb. I've known people who lost way more limbs from tragic accidents. A shark victim of mine lost his legs, got prosthetics."

"You don't say." Jericho says in a sarcastic manner.

"Hm-mm." Dr. Cardino replies. "I had this other patient of mine back in Georgia. Got in a bear attack that gutted him from his stomach. Ended up losing a kidney because of that bear."

"What's your point, doc?" Jericho asks in an impatient manner.

"My point is that you should be grateful that you survived the accident… But I would be lying if I said that I was telling the truth." Dr. Cardino replies. "You see, what my _real_ point is that you are in no condition to become Cyrus' right hand man. You have made countless mistakes, Uppenheimer, to the point where even Cyrus isn't even proud of you. One day, you will be replaced… this accident may be a sign."

Jericho glared daggers at the doctor.

"Get some rest." he orders. "I have another patient of mine I need to see."

With that, Dr. Cardino left Jericho's side as he exited the infirmary room, leaving poor Jericho to himself. As Dr. Cardino left, the Timberwolf couldn't help but scowl at the door of where the good doctor exited, feeling hatred towards him.

* * *

A flashlight shined on a single walker in the dark room, prompting it to turn around. At that moment, Bernard's cane sword was jabbed into the forward of the walker, killing it instantly as it fell to the ground dead. The four were already in the darkened building, trying to find a way out of it.

"Nice one." Camryn compliments.

Graffiti was spray painted all over the walls by previous survivors. Some of the graffiti said things like, "Don't trust the military!" "FEMA is a lie!" "Where's FMEA?!" "Not a flu".

Bernard turned to the side to see that there was a small barricade with a sign on the front of it. "'Restricted area.'" Bernard read from a sign.

"Restricted area my ass." Matt comments with anger in his voice.

"'Where's FEMA?'" Bernard read some of the graffiti on the wall.

"Good question. Where is FEMA?... All I see are walkers." Camryn comments.

"Where the hell _was_ FEMA when all this happened anyway?" Hunter asks.

"Probably kicking up their feet on their desks." Matt says.

"We should continue heading down the stairs." Bernard suggests.

Matt was the first to enter the stairwell, only to immediately stop. "Uh-oh. We have a math problem." he says.

"Huh?" Camryn asks.

"So George has one desk and Lucas has two desks." Matt continues.

"Matt, just tell us the problem." Bernard says.

"I am telling you the problem."

"He means the situation." Hunter clarifies.

"Alright, here's the question. What do you get when you have three desks together?" Matt asks.

"Uuh… A cubicle?" Bernard asks with uncertainty in his voice.

"A barricade." Matt says. The three entered the stairwell to see that the stairs that were leading down were blocked by multiple desks and chairs and various other furniture. "We're gonna have to go up."

"Sweet North Carolina. I'm startin' to hate stairs." Bernard complains

"You and me both, Bernard." Matt replies.

With the complaints out of the way, the four headed up the stairs to the fifth floor. Upon entering the room, which appeared to be some sort of packaging room, they were immediately greeted by an awful stench.

"Ugh! What's that stink?!" Camryn exclaims in utter disgust.

"I don't smell anything." Matt says.

"If the kid doesn't smell it, that only means one thing." Hunter says.

"Bodies." Bernard finishes. The four looked inside the room to see multiple body bags lying on the floor all in neat order. "These weren't walkers… Somebody's been killin' people."

Matt bent down and unzipped a bag and was greeted by a heavily decomposing corpse. "Based on the amount of decomp, and the fact that these guys are in body bags, I'd say they died sometime near the early days of the outbreak." he says.

"Who would do such a thing?" Camryn asks, horrified that someone killed civilians.

"FEMA… or the military." Bernard suggests.

"I hate the military." Matt complains.

The four walked passed the body bags as they entered the opposite stairway; Camryn couldn't help but look at the body bags with sadness on her face. She was horrified at the military's actions.

"Cam. Come on." Matt shouts, grabbing her attention.

Camryn approached the stairway as the four walked up the stairs and up onto the roof. The four entered the rooftop and the first thing they saw was a crane holding a container over an alley.

"We could use that container to get to the other building." Matt says.

"How do we lower it? It's too high." Camryn asks.

"Maybe the crane still has power?" Hunter suggests.

Bernard approached the crane and climbed up the ladder; there he saw the controls of the crane and pulled a lever. Immediately, the crane started up as it began to lower the container onto the gap, though the crane was being loud in the process. Eventually, the container got lowered, covering the gap between the two buildings; at that moment, they heard growling from behind, prompting the four to turn around. There, they saw multiple walkers coming up the stairs, heading their way.

Hunter aimed his grenade launcher at the horde and pulled the trigger, launching a grenade at the huge group. Upon impact, the explosion killed, or crippled the entirety of the horde. "Now this is a gun I could love!" Hunter shouted in excitement.

"Nice going, Hunter." Matt complimented him.

The four approached the dumpster and climbed up the ladder; they crossed the makeshift bridge and began walking on the roof of the building. "When are we gonna stop crossing buildings?" Matt asked.

"When we find a safe place to get onto the street." Bernard replies.

Hunter looked down at the street, noticing it was still infested with walkers and abandoned, parked cars. "Street's still packed. We may be on the roofs for a little longer." Hunter announces.

"Aw hell." Matt complains.

Hunter walked on the roof but accidentally tripped on a slab of concrete, causing him to fall down. Upon falling, he accidentally pulled the trigger of his grenade launcher, sending a grenade towards the opposite building across the street. The grenade impacted the building, causing some of it to come crumbling down as fire emerged from the windows.

Matt couldn't help but whistle, impressed with the amount of damage his friend did. "Nice one, Hunter. That was badass." Matt compliments.

"I nearly killed myself." Hunter says as he gets back up on his feet.

Bernard and Camryn looked at the building that Hunter hit, seeing most of it beginning to give way. "That building won't survive long." Bernard says. "I hope nobody was hidin' in there."

"Well if they are, they're dead now. No use crying for them." Matt says in a harsh tone.

Bernard turned to the youngster and shot him a glare. "Mister… I don't think I like your attitude." Bernard calmly says yet in a terrifying way.

"Noted." Matt says.

"Get yo ass movin', Matt." Bernard says, having enough of Matt's attitude.

"Roger that, general!" Matt exclaims as he shoots him a salute.

"Ugh. Dear Lord, why did I ever leave Jacksonville?" Bernard asked himself.

"Hey, Hunter… You like Casper?" Matt suddenly asks, chuckling a bit.

"You see, that's just uncalled for, kid." Hunter replies, obviously aware that his friend was making fun of his obsession with ghosts.

* * *

Dr. Cardino entered an abandoned pharmacy to grab some medicine for the Timberwolves, resupplying. Currently, he was out there all alone, though he was tough enough to handle himself from any walkers. He grabbed some pills and placed them in his bag before exiting the pharmacy, having already completed his resupply. As he stepped outside, he pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and placed it in his mouth before reaching into his other pocket to grab a lighter.

At that moment, a shadowy figure from in the night stepped out from the side of the pharmacy, revealing itself to the doctor. Dr. Cardino looked up and was slightly cautious at the unknown figure before reaching to grab his knife. The figure began to approach the doctor before the moonlight shined on it's face, revealing themselves to be a survivor in a hood.

"'Scuse me." said the man in a slight West Coastern accent. "Hey buddy."

Dr. Cardino scoffed silently as he rolled his eyes before turning away, not wanting to deal with the lone survivor. However, the survivor was persistent as he continued to walk his way towards the doctor.

"What?" Dr. Cardino asks out of frustration. "Don't you have a group to go to?" Dr. Cardino asks.

"Nah, it's jus' me." the man replies. "I have my own place I've been staying for a few months now. I just came here to get some supplies and I saw you… I saw your cigarette… You have an extra bud?"

"Get lost." Dr. Cardino replies harshly.

The man gave him an offended expression. "For a war vet?" the man asks in an offended manner. "I took a bullet for my country and you can't even spare me a fucking smoke?"

"Jesus Christ." Dr. Cardino groaned quietly in annoyance.

He decided he might as well help the survivor, knowing he wouldn't leave him alone. He grabbed a second cigarette and handed it to the man, whom gladly took it and placed it in his mouth. The man stared at Dr. Cardino as if he was waiting for something to happen, before raising his eyebrows.

"Not gonna… light it up?" the man asks.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me." Dr. Cardino says in pure annoyance.

The doctor reached in his pocket and pulled out a lighter before approaching the man's cigarette. However, unbeknownst to him, the man reached into his own pocket and pulled out a Taurus Judge. As Dr. Cardino got closer to the man, the man suddenly placed the revolver against his stomach and began pulling the trigger, causing the doctor to grunt in pain before falling to the ground.

The man threw Dr. Cardino off of him and onto the ground, while the doctor continued to groan. The man looked down and pointed his Judge at the doctor before firing his gun at him once more, emptying the clip. The man placed his revolver back into his pocket before bending down at the corpse of Dr. Cardino. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the pack of cigarettes as well as the lighter before placing them in his own pocket. Finally, he reached down and grabbed the doctor's radio before turning it to a different channel.

Jericho lied on his bed as he was currently alone in the infirmary room, having nothing to do but rest. At that moment, his radio began to whir, indicating someone was calling him. He grabbed it and turned it on, allowing the person on the other end to speak.

"Smooch… It's me… It's done…" the man said on the radio.

"Good." Jericho replies. "You'll get your share of ammo and rations when I get out of this place… And the uh… the 'request' as well."

The man turned off the radio as he stuffed it in his pocket before bringing out the lighter he stole from Dr. Cardino's corpse. He quickly lit the cigarette before placing the lighter back into his pocket, taking a hit from the cigarette in the process.

Jericho placed the radio back in his sheets to hide it from any Timberwolves that would walk inside. He quickly got up from his bed as he placed his shoes on before grabbing the radio and finally, exiting the infirmary.

* * *

"And so she said, get this, 'Stop. Stop. That hurts.' I mean, what the fuck bitch?" Matt questioned as he began to chuckle to himself as he talked to Barleycorn.

Bernard, Hunter, and Camryn only gave slightly disturbed expressions at Matt's dark joke. "Geez, kid, that's kind of dark." Hunter says.

"You don't get my type of humor." Matt responds.

The four finally exited the building as they were now on the street, seeing multiple walkers roaming the abandoned cars near the helicopter crash. "They're a long way from here." Bernard says. "We should be good to-"

"Ah, fuckin' Scheiße!" Matt exclaimed in anger.

On the other end of the street was a barricade by a wall made by the military. "They tried to barricade themselves in. All it must've took was one walker." Camryn says.

"Poor bastards." Hunter replies.

"We're gonna have to find another way to get out of this city. There's no way we can get through that barricade." Matt replies.

"You're gonna hate me for this but…" Hunter didn't finish his sentence.

"What?" Matt asked hesitantly. Hunter turned his head to the building that he accidentally, partially destroyed. "Nu-huh! No way! We are NOT going through that building!"

"It's our only way, kid. You have any better ideas?" Hunter asks.

Matt sighed heavily. "Fine!" he gave in. "But if I die in that building, I'm gonna torment you as a ghost!"

"Pretty sure you already used that threat before." Hunter replies.

"I'm sorry I can't keep track of all my threats." Matt replies.

"Personally, I like your threats, Él Mateo." Camryn replies. "I find them creative and amusing."

"See. Someone appreciates them." Matt says in slight excitement.

The four started to approach the burning building, passing by various military signs along the way. Bernard stopped to read a random sign. "This shit says, 'Use of deadly force authorized'." he says before he chuckled to himself. "Heh heh. Use of deadly force authorized. Alright. Shiit. It sure is."

"You guys think killing walkers count?" Hunter asks.

"I think that sign's a little redundant… or ironic. I don't know which one to be honest." Camryn says.

"'Army equals lies' Ha!" Bernard read some graffiti. "'Stay in your group'. That's what I keep sayin'. 'Infected detected in this area'?"

"Really? I haven't seen any." Matt sarcastically comments as he eyes the huge horde of walkers down the street.

"No shit." Bernard replies. He then read one final graffiti message. "Hide?! Pussies." he says. The four then walked inside the burning building, immediately smelling smoke. "Don't inhale too much, y'all. You don't want to suffocate."

"Thanks for the info, Bernard." Matt says.

"Let's get out of this building as fast as possible." Hunter says.

"This hallway is blocked by burning wood." Camryn notes. "Our only way is to go up."

"Let me get this straight. You want us to go _up_ a burning building?" Matt asks in utter disbelief.

"You got any better ideas, Mattster?" Camryn asks, annoyed.

"Christ. Why is that the only recurring phrase people keep using against me?" Matt asks.

The four then began to carefully walk up the stairs as the building around them continued to burn down. Various parts and structures of the building fell to the ground floor or blocked hallways, forcing the four to find alternative routes.

"We are gonna die in this building. I just know it!" Matt exclaims.

"Keep your chin up, kid. We may survive." Hunter replies.

"Yeah. 'May' survive. Not 'will' survive." Matt clarifies. At that moment, a room exploded as fire spread into the hallway. "Shit!" Matt shouted.

"We're gonna have to find another way through this building." Bernard announces.

"The only good thing about this situation is the ever growing fire around us." Matt states.

"How is that… a good thing?" Camryn cautiously asks.

Bernard opened up a door, revealing a supply closet along with windows. "Looks like we can head out here on the ledge." Hunter says.

"The ledge?" Matt asks. "You mean cross the narrow ledge of the building trying not to fall to our imminent deaths?"

"Uh-huh." the former ghost hunter replied.

"I hate you, Hunter!"

"Well I still like you, kid."

At that moment, a walker came walking out of a door as it began to approach the four. Bernard placed his cane sword away as he grabbed the walker's throat and began to push it towards the window. He shoved it against the window before using all of his strength to kick the walker right out the window, shattering it. The walker fell from the building as it landed on the ground below, blood splattering against the concrete.

"Wooo!" Camryn cheered.

"Alright!" Hunter cheered as well.

"Nice one, Bernard." Matt complimented.

"I used to be a quarterback back in high." Bernard reveals. He stepped outside the broken window and carefully stepped on the ledge. "Careful, y'all. Don't trip y'all." he says.

"I know this might be a bad time… but I'm afraid of heights." Camryn reveals.

"Hold Matt's hand." Hunter suggests.

"What?!" Matt exclaims.

"Good idea." Camryn responds.

With that, she held Matt's hand for safety, feeling safer already. Matt glanced at Camryn as the two briefly made eye contact, before shyly looking away from each other. Matt had a scowl on his face while Camryn had a shy smile, both having blushes on their cheeks.

The four began to carefully shimmey their way on the ledge, passing many windows with fire behind them in the process. At that moment, a walker came bursting out of a window completely engulfed on fire before it walked right off the edge.

"Don't be that guy." Matt says.

Bernard suddenly broke a window. "Come on. Let's get off this ledge." he says.

"Thank Christ." Matt mumbles.

Soon, the four entered the room that Bernard just recently opened for them. Matt looked down and noticed that Camryn was still holding his hand.

"You do realize you're still holding my hand, right?" Matt asks.

"I'm not letting go until we get out of this building." Camryn states.

Matt was quiet for a brief moment. "Alrighty then." he responds. The room next to them exploded, causing more flames to engulf the room. "This building is gonna give!" Matt shouted.

"Let's head down that hallway! Maybe there's another way out of here!" Hunter suggested.

The four exited the room and entered the hallway and were immediately greeted by multiple walkers. "Shit!" Matt shouted.

"Back into the room!" Hunter shouted as well.

"Naw." Bernard replies.

He suddenly whipped out his chainsaw and revved it up; at that moment, the motor began to roar as a huge smile grew on his face. He wasted no time as he approached the horde of walkers before shredding one of the heads in half, blood splattering everywhere.

"ALL RIIIIIGHT!" Bernard shouted as he went on a rampage and merciless slaughter. He began to slaughter every one of the walkers in the hallway. "HOW YOU LIKE ME NOW?! CHEW ON THAT! WOOOOO! YEAH BABY!" he shouted.

Hunter, Camryn, and even Matt had disturbed expressions on their faces as they watched their normally calm friend go on a serial killer rampage with the walkers. Eventually, all the walkers were killed by the hands of Bernard, who was panting up a storm from all the shouting. He turned around, his clothes soaked in blood and guts, with a smile on his face.

"Path's clear." he simply says.

Hunter and Camryn hesitantly entered the hallway, carefully stepping over the various body parts.

"Remind me to never anger you again, Bernard." Matt says as he walks passed him.

At that moment, an explosion occurred right next to Camryn, causing her to fall back into a wall where she banged her head. She groaned in pain as she tightly shut her eyes, rubbing the back of her head.

"You alright?" Hunter asks.

"Yeah… Yeah I'm alright. Ugh, my head hurts though." Camryn responded painfully.

Matt approached her and grabbed his pain pills he stole from the pharmacy a day ago. "Here you can have this." he says as he hands her the pills.

"Where'd you get these?" she asked.

"Took them from an old pharmacy." he answered. "It is more blessed to give than receive."

Camryn opened the bottle and immediately took a pill before swallowing it. "Alright. At least that'll stop the pain for a while." she says.

"Never thought those pain meds would be useful." Matt says to himself.

"The kid and Camryn sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-"

"Hunter. You finish that song, I'm gonna shoot you again and this time I will kill you." Matt threatened.

"Sorry. Guess someone doesn't appreciate the classics." Hunter complained.

"'This time'?" Bernard questioned.

Matt went on ahead of the group as he walked down the hallway as the other three followed. At that moment, a walker came stumbling out of a burning room. However, this walker was unlike the rest. This walker was wearing a dirty yellow hazmat suit.

"Is that walker in a hazmat suit?" Matt asks. Camryn aimed her assault rifle at the walker and pulled the trigger, sending a bullet to its head, killing it instantly. "I guess those suits don't stop bites." Matt says.

Bernard approached the dead walker and bent down, noticing a symbol on it.

"This guy worked for FEMA." he says.

"Them again?" Matt asks.

"Wonder what they were doing." Hunter questions.

"Tryin' to stop this outbreak." Bernard replies as he stands back up. "This world going to hell… and soon we all will be if we're not careful with this 'infection' roaming around the place."

The three couldn't help but stare at the older gentleman with slightly disturbed expressions. "Geez, calm down, Bernard." Matt says. "You're starting to sound like the creepy old man from the Friday the 13th movies. 'Abandon all hope ye who enter here.'." Matt quotes.

"Sorry. My bad." Bernard apologizes.

Hunter grabbed onto a door handle, feeling no heat at all whatsoever on it. "I don't think there's a fire behind this door." he says.

He opened it and sure enough, there was no fire in the room, just a bed with some furniture as well as a bag of white powder on said bed.

"Is that what I think it is?" Matt asks, pointing to the bag.

"That there is a bag of blow." Bernard says.

"Why would a bag of coke be randomly left here in an apartment?" Camryn asks.

"Drug deal." Matt replies as he approaches the bag.

"Come on, y'all." Bernard suddenly says. "I don't want to burn alive in this here building."

Bernard turned around as Hunter and Camryn followed him out of the room; Matt however stayed behind as he grabbed the bag of cocaine before opening it up. He stuck his nose in there as he sniffed the smell, confirming that it was indeed cocaine. He suddenly stuck his hand in the bag and grabbed a small amount of it before bringing his hand back up to his face. He then proceeded to snort some of the cocaine out of his hand before shaking his head vigorously, already feeling the effects of the drug.

"Matt." Bernard calls out from the hallway, grabbing his attention.

The teen quickly placed the bag of cocaine in his jacket pocket, hiding it from the group as he planned to save it for later. He exited the room as he caught up with the other three survivors in the hallway, whom were approaching a stairway.

"We can use these stairs to esca-"

Before Hunter could finish his sentence, parts of the roof collapsed onto the stairs, blocking their path.

"OH COME ON!" Matt shouted in frustration.

"MOTHERF-... GODDAMN!" Bernard shouted as well.

"Damnit!" Camryn shouted. "Our only way down is blocked now!"

"Who's idea was it again to head inside a FREAKING BURNING BUILDING?!" Matt shouted in absolute anger. At that moment, more of the ceiling came crumbling down next to Matt, prompting him to jump out of the way. "Let's find another way! This jacket's flammable!"

A small spark flew onto his jacket which immediately went up in flames, engulfing his arms in the fire.

"Shit! This place is burning up fast!" he shouts as his jacket continued to burn.

He quickly patted down the area on fire, successfully putting it out. The four turned the corner, heading into a lounging area… along with multiple walkers inside.

"You gotta be kidding me." Bernard says.

Hunter suddenly looked passed the huge horde of walkers, noticing lights on the other end of the lounging room along with open elevator doors. "Hey, that elevator is still working!" he exclaimed, pointing to the elevator.

"What?!" Matt asks in disbelief.

"You kiddin', right?" Bernard asks.

"No, I'm serious." Hunter replies.

"Alright then, how do you propose we get through the horde?" Matt asks. Bernard suddenly cleared his throat, getting the teen's attention. He turned his head to see the older gentleman wielding his chainsaw as a confident smirk was on his face. "Now we're talkin'!"

Bernard quickly revved up his chainsaw as Matt brought out his axe, both ready to slay some walkers. They approach the horde of walkers clumped in the building, grabbing the undead's attention. Matt quickly slammed his axe onto one of the walker's skulls, killing it instantly as Bernard completely sawed a walker's head in half. The two went on a rampage as Hunter and Camryn followed behind at a safe distance.

Blood was splattered everywhere as Matt continued to chop the walkers either in half or decapitate them while Bernard continued on with his slaughterfest with his chainsaw. One by one, each of the walkers were killed or incapacitated only to be finished off by Hunter and Camryn from behind. However, the huge horde soon became a problem as Matt and Bernard slowly felt overwhelmed by it.

"We don't need to kill all of them. Just enough to make a beeline for the elevator!" Bernard announces.

"How the hell are elevators still working this late into the apocalypse?!" Matt asks.

"Don't ask. Just get in the elevator." Camryn responds.

"Technically, you're not supposed to use an elevator in a fire." Matt states in a smart ass tone.

"But that might not apply during a ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE." Camryn clarified.

Matt was silent for a few moments with an expressionless face. "Everybody get in the elevator!" he announced, earning an eye roll from the Filipina.

Bernard quickly pushed a walker in front of him, causing it to tumble into the group, knocking some other walkers over. Matt however literally grabbed a walker and lifted it up into the air before slamming it down hard onto the ground, hard enough for the skull to break upon impact. The two then made a run for the elevator, pushing walkers away from them as Hunter and Camryn followed suit.

Hunter punched a walker out of his way, knocking it to the ground; however, a second walker went to reach him, only to trip and fall, knocking Hunter's knife away from his hand. Realizing it would've been suicide to go and grab the knife back, he decided to leave it in the huge horde as he continued to run towards the elevator. However, before he could even enter it, he was suddenly grabbed by three walkers from behind, who began to pull him towards them.

"Aah! What the he- AAAAAAHHH!" Hunter shouted as his face was nearly chomped off.

Matt came to the rescue as he grabbed Hunter's arm, pulling him back into the elevator. "No!" he shouted as he tried his hardest to pull his friend back into safety.

Bernard suddenly revved up his chainsaw again as he went to kill the walkers that were latched onto Hunter. "Goddamnit! EAT THAT SHIT!" he shouted as he began to saw the walkers' arms off.

Eventually, the arms got cut off, freeing Hunter as he was violently pulled into the elevator, just in time for the doors to close. Hunter groaned in pain as he coughed onto the ground, still feeling the walkers' grip on his shoulders and torso.

"Ah. Damn it all." he groans.

"That was a little too close." Bernard says.

"I'll say… I almost became a ghost."

"Did you get bit?" Matt asks.

"No… No, I didn't. I'm good." Hunter responded.

"How about you guys?" Matt asked the other two.

"I'm good." Bernard replied.

"Yeah. Same. Not bitten yet." Camryn says.

"Is everyone else alright?" Bernard asks.

"There's blood on me but it ain't mine." Matt responds, looking at his blood soaked jacket. "Aww, Barleycorn is covered in blood." he mentions as he tries to wipe away the blood on the pink elephant stuffed toy strapped to his chest.

"Aside from that near death experience I just had, I'm fine." Hunter replies.

"Mattifier, you bit?" Camryn asks.

"No, I'm good." Matt replies. His eyes suddenly grew wide as dinner plates as his pupils shrunk. "And then there were three." he says.

"I think we're all fine." Hunter says.

"So what's the game plan?" Camryn asks.

"Same as before. Escape this burning building and out of this city." Bernard answers.

"If there _is_ a way out of this city." Hunter adds.

"You're startin' to sound like Matt now." Bernard points out.

"We're pretty screwed." Matt says, still retaining his scared/traumatized expression. "Was it Jake?… Doesn't matter now. I think it was Louis. Don't matter now. I think she said it was Cheryl. I normally go solo… but under the circumstances I'm thinking we stick together… Call me Matt… You got names?"

"Is something wrong with you, Matt? You're acting the opposite of… sane." Camryn notes.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." Matt replies a little too quickly.

"You're acting weirder than usual, kid." Hunter comments.

"I'M… fiiiiine." Matt clenched his fists into a ball as tight as possible as he gritted his teeth.

The three gave him disturbed expressions as silence loomed over the area. "Alrighty then." Camryn replies.

* * *

In the midst of the night, Jericho stepped outside of the Wolf's Den, now on the side part of the community. He turned to the guard's pathways built on the walls, noticing a few guards walking back and forth along the balcony. He looked down at the trench of walkers below him, seeing the multiple walkers roaming around in the trenches. Remembering how Camryn, Matt, and Joey escaped the first time, Jericho backed up a few feet before running at his top speed towards the trenches.

He suddenly jumped at the last moment, grabbing onto the ledge of the pathway. He pulled himself up before climbing over the wall, just in time for the guards to turn around. Though he went unnoticed by the two.

* * *

The elevator doors opened as the four survivors were granted a view on the bottom floor on the opposite side of the building… which was engulfed in more flames. "Perfeeeeect." Matt sarcastically says.

"We're almost out of this building, y'all." Bernard announces as the four step out of the elevator.

"There's so much fire!" Camryn exclaimed.

"I know! Isn't it great?" Matt asks, a little too excited.

"No it's NOT great you pyromaniac! We could all die in here!" Camryn shouted back.

"That's not very epic. We better get out of here. Come on, Barleycorn! We're off to find an exit!"

With that, Matt ran ahead of the group, leaving the other three behind. "Is it just me or Matt becoming less and less sane each day?" Camryn asks.

"I'm fairly worried about the kid." Hunter responds.

Matt continued to roam down the lobby, passing various objects on fire before he suddenly stopped. "Look, Hunter!" he exclaims. Hunter approached his friend to see him pointing at a Ghostbusters poster. "The _Ghostbusters_."

"You see, that's just not cool." Hunter replies.

"Thank Jesus. We're almost out of here." Bernard comments as they make their way towards the exit.

The older gentleman approached the entrance/exit before walking face first into glass doors, earning a snort from Matt.

"Nice going, Bernard." Matt chortled.

"Ah, shut up, Matt." Bernard replies as he pushes the doors.

The four were finally out of the burning building, much MUCH to their relief. "Finally! We're out of that burning inferno!" Camryn exclaims in extreme relief.

"Now we just need to escape the city." Hunter replies. "Any ideas?"

"We just keep movin' until we find a way out of this place." Bernard replies.

"I guess that's our only plan. Come on, kid. Let's go." Hunter tells Matt.

Hunter turned around only to see Matt doing some sort of Hopak kick dance. "Hunter cracked corn and I don't care! Camryn cracked corn, I still don't care! Bernard cracked corn and he ate it aaaaaaaall!... Take that you stupid corn!" Matt sung all while doing the Hopak kick.

"What is wrong with you?" Hunter asks him.

"Shut up! You don't appreciate folk dances like Barleycorn does!" Matt retorted.

"He's a stuffed animal!" Hunter shouted.

"He's. My. Friend!" Matt shouted back.

"Come on, y'all. Fightin' ain't gon' resolve anythin'." Bernard says, trying to break up the small quarrel.

"Try telling that to him." Hunter tells Bernard, referring to Matt.

"Barleycorn doesn't like your attitude, Hunter." Matt simply says.

"He's a- nevermind." Hunter says, giving up on the fight.

The four proceeded to walk away from the burning building behind them, which continued to crumble down behind them. A few walkers were in their way but were quickly taken out by Bernard and Matt with their own weapons. They eventually went behind another building seeing how it was fortified with no way to get in. However, the other side was not a pleasant view.

"That's a deep hill." Hunter says.

In front of them was a very huge, very steep hill. "Careful. That gully looks pretty steep." Matt warns.

"Is that our only way down?"

"I guess so." Camryn replies.

"Well you first kid." Hunter says.

"Fuck no!" Matt responds in an aggressive tone.

"Hey, you're in front of the group." Hunter argues.

"I'm not going down that five story drop! This is like the train all over again!"

"Will you please just go down the hill?!"

"No!"

"Move your damn crumbs!" Bernard shouted in anger.

"'Crumbs'?" Matt quoted questionably. "Really, Bernard? Is that how you swear?"

"Ah shut up, Matt." Bernard replies.

"Alright, well since none of you pussies aren't gonna go down, I might as well. Since I'm the only _man_ of the group! Wimps!... Stupid, bloody cowards!" Matt shouted.

The teen looked down the steep hill and gulped, not ready to end his life just yet… well not in this way that is. He took one single small step… and slipped and fell down the hill.

"Woah shit!" he swore as he rolled down the hill.

The three survivors flinched at each painful impact that happened to Matt, all with each earning a painful groan from him. Eventually, the teen fell to the bottom and into a little river; he spat out some water as he pushed away a few wet hairs from his face as he coughed.

Camryn and Hunter suddenly began to laugh at Matt's misfortune. "Oh man!" Hunter exclaimed. "I wish I could've gotten this on video!"

"If America's Funniest Home Videos were still a thing, you would've definitely won." Camryn commented.

"Yeah. Ha ha ha. Laugh it up." Matt sarcastically replies in an aggressive tone. "When you guys get down here, I'm gonna drown each and every one of you in this dirty river!"

Bernard began chuckling a bit. "It's not funny. You could really hurt your-" Bernard stopped himself as he couldn't contain his laughter anymore. "Naw. It _IS_ funny!"

"I can't believe you went first again." Hunter chuckled as he wiped a tear from his eye.

"Watch that first step baby." Bernard notes.

Matt grumbled in annoyance from down below; he suddenly felt as if he was lighter. He looked down and noticed that his jacket came off during the fall along with Barleycorn. He quickly began to examine the area trying to find his pink stuffed elephant. He turned to the side and found Barleycorn wrapped in his jacket, lying next to a rock. Blowing a sigh of relief, Matt quickly grabbed the jacket and the pink elephant, immediately strapping him onto his chest once more, all while the other three came sliding down the hill. He quickly checked the pockets to check if the bag of cocaine was still inside. Sure enough, it was, much to his relief.

"Man, that was real fun. Let's do that again!" Hunter happily says.

"Breaking my neck is not a fun time, Hunter." Matt sarcastically replies.

After the quick drop, the four survivors quickly got back up on their feet as they walked alongside the small, shallow river. Eventually, they got to the end of the river where a less steep hill was at, this time heading upwards.

"We can head up that hill." Camryn suggests.

"Great. More climbing." Matt complained.

Bernard suddenly looked behind him, growing a fairly alarmed expression. "You might want to hurry. We got a horde comin'." he warns.

The other three turned around, seeing a huge horde walking towards them… slowly. "Those guys are like 100 yards away and they're slower than molasses… I never said that before." Matt says.

"I'm just sayin'."

The four began to walk up the hill which proved to be a fairly difficult task but was still climbable nonetheless. Eventually, the four got to the top of the hill, which happened to be next to a road; on the other side of the road was a trailer.

"There's a trailer. It may have supplies." Hunter says.

"Or dozens of corpses… still it's worth checking out." Matt replies.

The four approached the trailer as Bernard turned the knob, revealing that it was unlocked. He opened the door and the four entered the trailer, revealing an empty table with no supplies whatsoever.

"Jesus. There's nothing here." Matt complains.

Hunter suddenly turned his head and grew wide eyes. "Oh my God." he whispered.

"What?" Bernard asks as he turns to the same direction before he grew wide eyes as well. "Dear lord."

In the corner of the trailer was a man with long brunette hair. More specifically, his corpse with blood splattered on the wall next to him as his head leaned on the wall where the blood was. A single pistol laid in his hand as his skin was pale, slowly decomposing.

"Is that?" Camryn starts.

"It is." Bernard finishes. "Mick Swagger."

Matt shot him a confused expression. "Poor fella… He must've gotten trapped in here." Hunter theorizes.

Camryn looked down and noticed a note by his corpse; she bent down and began to read it. "'Ay mate. It comes with great pain to my fans, friends, and family that I can no longer continue this rock n' roll journey in the valley of death. I am at the end of my rope with nowhere left to go besides the hoop dangling from below. I party hard and lived harder and was able to please my fans as well as create countless smiles throughout the world. The journey I have taken to become a legendary rock n' roll star was a long, perspiring one, but nonetheless, the greatest adventure I ever had. Sadly, all good things must come to an end. I will be heading down the highway to hell in due time, but the one thing I want to say is never stop rock n' rolling. Mick Swagger.'" With that, she lowered the note. "A legend you were, Mick Swagger. You were my favorite band artist out there."

"He was more legendary than Elvis… or the president… hell. Both Elvis and the president combined." Bernard says.

"You will be missed." Hunter mourns. Behind them, Matt was utterly confused on who they were talking about. "I used to listen to his albums when I was a junior ghost hunter."

"I loved his rock candy album." Bernard says.

"I only _just_ became a fan." Camryn comments.

Hunter sighed sadly as he looked at Mick Swagger's corpse. "May you rest in peace, rock god." he says. "Come on. Let's go. At least he didn't die to the walkers."

With that, Hunter, Bernard, and Camryn left the trailer, leaving only Matt and Mick Swagger's corpse behind. Matt still retained his confused expression as he stared at the corpse below him. "Who the hell is Mick Swagger?" he asked no one in particular.

Matt left the trailer as he caught up with the other three while simultaneously snorting some more cocaine though just a little amount. They walked down the road only to come across yet another barricade. "Are you kidding me?!" Matt shouted in annoyance. "Did they barricade this entire city?!"

"Yes." Hunter replies.

"Great. Now where do we go?" Camryn asks.

Bernard suddenly looked down, seeing an open manhole cover; this caused him to grow a sly smile on his face. "Matt. Good news. We're going down in the sewer." he said, containing his laughter.

"Aw Christ. Again?!" Matt shouted in annoyance once more.

"Not your day, kid." Hunter says.

"I feel bad for you, Mattinator." Camryn quips.

"Man, you picked a bad day to take that pink elephant with ya." Bernard tells the teen.

"Tell me about it." Matt replies.

"Everybody in the sewer." Bernard calls out to the group.

"I am not climbing into the- Ah, screw it. Let's go." Matt quickly adds.

Bernared was the one that entered the sewer first, followed by Camryn, then Hunter, and then finally, though reluctantly, Matt. Now all four of the survivors were back in the sewers, trying to find a way out of the city, much like last time.

* * *

Abigail and Chatterbox walked through the city at night, in search of the survivors their leader was looking for. "Cyrus does realize we're probably never gonna find those guys, right?" Abigail asked her partner.

_~Yes, I understand.~_ Chatterbox replied using their tape recorder.

"Is that all you say?" Abigail asks, clearly annoyed at her partner's muteness.

_~Nyet.~_

Abigail sighed in frustration, giving up in the process. "Why do I bother." she asks herself in a tired tone.

_~Analysis of the air indicates presence of offensive matter.~_

"What do you-" Abigail suddenly started sniffing the air. "Hey, yeah. I do smell something funky in the air."

The two Timberwolves turned their heads to see smoke coming from behind some buildings. The two quickly ran down an alley and ran into the street, seeing the burning building that was crumbling down.

_~Attention. That building is on fire.~_

"Does your mixtape have everything related to any scenario?" Abigail asks, more out of annoyance rather than curiosity.

Chatterbox pressed a button on their tape recorder. _~You have reached Nickelodeon Enterprises. We can't take your call at the moment. Please leave a message after the beep and we'll get back to you.~_

"I don't even know if you're being sarcastic or not." Abigail says. "Either way, this is the first sign of any human interaction yet. I doubt walkers burnt down this building. Let's head around back and see if we can find any more of their tracks."

_~Please proceed.~_

Abigail glared at her partner. "You're pushing your luck, Chatterbox." she tells him.

The two walked over to the side of the building, not wanting to go through the massive, burning inferno. Unbeknownst to the two however, they were being watched and followed by a hooded Jericho, who proceeded to walk across the street, continuing to follow them.

* * *

The four survivors continued to walk in the knee deep wastewater. "Oh my God! It stinks inside my head!" Matt complained.

"Yeah, I know what you're saying. And guess what… I do like Casper." Hunter says in a shrill voice, referring to Matt's earlier comment a while ago.

"Shut up, Hunter!" Matt replies back harshly.

Bernard stabbed a walker emerging from the water in the head as Matt slammed his axe onto another walker, both killing the undead instantly. The four continued to go through the wastewater until they saw a ladder leading upwards. They started climbing the ladder and were now back outside and out of the sewer. It was revealed that they were below a bridge of some sort with numerous cars, all with flashing lights inside, indicating that they had alarms if touched.

"Do you still smell sewer?" Matt asks suddenly.

"Not me." Hunter replies.

"Cuz I still smell it."

"Man, all these alarm cars! It's like a puzzle!"

"You have GOT to be kidding me!"

"Careful. Alarm cars everywhere." Camryn warns the group.

"Everybody take it slow now." Bernard tells the group.

"Maybe we shouldn't use our guns out here." Hunter suggests.

At that moment, a walker revealed itself from behind a pillar, approaching the former ghost hunter from behind. Matt quickly drew out his Beretta M9 and aimed it at the walker's head, seeing how he didn't have time to warn Hunter of the oncoming threat. He quickly pulled the trigger and shot the walker in the head… as well as an alarmed car behind it.

In an instant, the bullet triggered the alarm of the car, waking up the entire area. "Shit! "Scuse me." Matt apologizes.

"Why'd you shoot the car?!" Hunter asks in utter disbelief.

Another shot rang out as well as another alarm; Hunter turned his head to see Camryn aiming her M16 at a walker she just killed. Next to the walker was a car with a bullet hole in it, indicating. that she shot it along with the walker.

"Shit! I'm sorry! My bad!" Camryn quickly apologizes.

"Stop shooting the car!" Hunter shouts at her as he takes away her gun.

He turned around and saw a walker approaching him; he quickly aimed the gun and fired it at the walker, completely missing it the first time as it shattered the window of a car, setting off the alarm. He fired his gun at the walker again, this time killing it, though the alarm still rang in the air.

"You can lay that blame on me." Hunter says to the group.

"How many of these cars are you gonna shoot?!" Matt shouted at his friend.

"Alright. I can shoot a car too!"

"You wanna start shooting cars? Let's shoot cars!" Matt shouts as he shoots a car next to him, causing yet another alarm to be triggered.

"Well fine then." Hunter replies as he shoots a car next to him, triggering another alarm. "There! I'll shoot a car for you."

"WOULD YOU STOP SHOOTIN' THE GODDAMN CARS?!" Bernard shouted at the two as the entire area was engulfed in the constant ringing of the alarmed cars.

At that moment, multiple walkers emerged from their hiding spots as they all began to approach the four survivors under the bridge. Some walkers were even _ON_ the bridge and just walked right off, falling to the ground below.

"Goddamnit it's getting good!" Matt shouts as he grips his axe.

Hunter handed Camryn back her M16 as she aimed it at the horde. "If it's not one of us, kill it." she says to the group as Bernard handed her his cane sword.

The four clumped together as they each held their own weapons, ready for the huge horde that was coming towards them. Eventually, the horde surrounded them as the walkers extended their arms to grab their prey. Bernard was the first to attack as he used his chainsaw to cut the walker in half. Matt slammed down his axe onto a walker's head, killing it, as Camryn jabbed the cane sword into another walker's eye.

Hunter kicked a walker away from him as he slammed the butt of his grenade launcher onto a walker's forehead, blood gushing from the woods. Matt swung his axe and completely decapitated a walker as Bernard slaughtered at least ten walkers in front of him with his chainsaw.

"This used to be a NICE NEIGHBORHOOD!" Bernard shouted as he sawed a walker in half.

"Looks like Hell came to our doorsteps!" Matt shouts as he slammed his axe onto another walker.

Hunter aimed his grenade launcher and fired it, causing a grenade to be fired onto a crowd of walkers. Upon impact, the whole group exploded, littering the area with walker limbs and guts. Camryn jabbed the cane sword in many walkers as she kicked some away from her. She turned to the side and saw a walker about to grab Matt next to her; she quickly stuck out her cane sword and jabbed the walker in the temple, saving Matt's life.

The teen turned around to see the dead walker next to him before looking at his savior; she gave him a reassuring smile as he gave her the same. He raised his axe in the air and slammed it onto a walker's head behind, returning the favor. Camryn couldn't help but smile.

"We need to find a way to get rid of these walkers! They're all over the place!" Bernard shouted.

"I got just the thing!" Matt shotued back.

He quickly grabbed the pipe bomb he made a while back, which was strapped to his belt, and turned it on. The red LED light began to flash as the smoke alarm began to ring out into the air. He raised his hand into the air and threw the pipe bomb as hard as he could over the huge horde of walkers.

"Chase this you dumbass bastards!" he shouted.

The pipe bomb landed behind the horde as the smoke alarm continued to ring out, which only grabbed the walkers' attention. Soon, the huge horde turned around as it began to move towards the pipe bomb, leaving the four survivors alone. Eventually, the huge horde surrounded the pipe bomb as it continued to count down; a walker grabbed onto the pipe bomb and bit down on it, sinking it's teeth into the metal.

At that moment, the explosion went off as it killed the majority of the walkers; walker guts and limbs were splattered everywhere as the surviving walkers were crippled with no legs. The survivors couldn't help but smile at the scene in front of them.

Hunter whistled. "Cool looking explosion." he says.

"I always wanted to blow up public property." Matt says in a sinister tone with a creepy smile as his pupils shrunk.

"That's not disturbing at all. Totally doesn't hint towards a life of murder and terrorism." Camryn responds in a slightly scared tone.

"I'm in too good of a mood to listen to you, Hunter." Matt replies.

"I didn't even say anything!" Hunter exclaims as he throws his hands in the air.

"Come on, y'all. We better find a place to stay for the night. It's gonna be dangerous in the dark." Bernard tells the group.

"You can say that again." Camryn says.

"Please don't." Matt replies.

Hunter turned to the side, seeing a building that says 'The Harvest and Trustee Bank'. "How about we sleep in that bank?" he suggested.

"I guess it's as good as any. Let's go." Bernard says as he leads the group to the abandoned bank

"You hear that, Barleycorn? We sleepin'!" Matt tells the stuffed animal.

"Please stop talking to the stuffed animal, kid." Hunter replies.

* * *

"Explosion came from around here somewhere. That's definitely human work. We're getting close." Abigail says as she and Chatterbox walk along the river.

_~What a lovely day, right? Deberíamos haber contratado a un portugués. (We should've hired a portugese guy.)~_ Chatterbox replies with the tape recorder.

"Are you running out of things to say with that dumbass mixtape?" Abigail asks.

Chatterbox was silent for a brief moment before pushing a button on their tape recorder. _~Yes. I-~_ They suddenly stopped the cassette.

Abigail sighed in annoyance. "At least I got confirmation." she mumbled. The two suddenly stopped as Abigail grew wide eyes while Chatterbox remained calm. "Oh shit." she says.

In front of them was a huge horde of walkers tumbling down the hill that lead to the trailer from above. _~Attention. There is danger. Please do not approach the area. Please kindly and politely move towards the emergency exit in a nice, orderly fashion. Thank you..~_

"That there is." Abigail replies. The walkers suddenly turned around, spotting the presence of the two survivors. "Well, we might as well take them out." the female Timberwolf says as she pulls out a paddle with two blades duct taped to the ends.

Chatterbox reached from behind their back and pulled out a giant medieval mace while at the same time pulling out their tape recorder.

_~The following presentation is not suitable for young audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.~_

A walker approached Chatterbox as it extended it's hand toward them; Chatterbox suddenly lifted their mace in the air and slammed it down onto the skull of the walker, blood splattering everywhere.

* * *

Matt and Bernard finished barricading the front doors of the bank as Hunter and Camryn came out from one of the rooms. "Rooms are empty. We're the only living things here." Camryn announces.

"Now we just have to worry about the spirits of the dead. Ghosts lurk everywhere." Hunter says as he glanced at every corner of the bank.

"You do realize ghosts aren't real, don't you Hunter?" Bernard asked him. "I understand that you were a ghost hunter for television before all this but wasn't it all faked?"

"Of course it was. But I REALLY wanted to hunt ghosts! It was my passion!" Hunter excitingly exclaimed.

Matt secretly sniffed some more cocaine in his jacket as he wiped his nose to get rid of the excess white powder. On the wall next to him were some graffiti; the sentence, "I need a medic bag!" was spray painted on the wall.

"My passion was sleeping, weed, and money." Matt comments. "You said this was a bank, right?" he suddenly asks.

"Yeah. Why?" Hunter questions in a curious manner.

Matt quickly swiped Camryn's M16 out of her hands as he suddenly stood up on one of the bankteller's desks.

"Listen up!" he announces loudly as he lays the assault rifle on his shoulder while holding it. "This is a robbery! We want to harm no one! We're after the bank's money, not yours! Your money is insured by the federal government, meaning you won't lose a dime! Do not, I repeat, do NOT be a hero! Think of your families, think of your friends! They want you to come home alive! Just sit still and shut up and this will all be over soon! You understand?!"

The other three stared at Matt with slightly scared expressions. "I feel intimidated." Hunter admits.

Matt suddenly began bowing in front of the three. "Thank you! Thank you! That was my bank robber impression. I'll be here all week. Nah, just kidding. I'm gonna be hiding from the walkers and all." Matt chuckled.

Matt hopped off the bank teller's desk and handed Camryn her rifle back, which she lazily placed on the ground. "Alright, y'all." Bernard suddenly speaks up. "We've had a long and tough day."

Matt made a nose fart sound. "Long and tough." he chuckled to himself, thinking of something dirty.

"I think we all deserve a night's rest. Let's head upstairs. I'm sure there are some couches we could sleep on." Bernard suggest/

"Or we could find several corpses lined up on a wall riddled with bullet holes." Matt theorizes.

"Why are you like this?" Hunter asks his friend.

The four walked up the stairs and into one of the offices that weren't either locked or barricaded. Immediately, Benrard turned around and locked the door as Hunter took one of the couches.

"Dibs on this couch!" Hunter proclaims.

"I got the other one." Bernard says.

"Wha… YOU DICKS!" Matt shouts in annoyance.

"Too slow!" Hunter shouts.

"Fine! I'll take the floor! It wouldn't be the first time I slept on a cold, hard floor before." Matt pouts.

"You poor soul." Camryn comments.

"Night y'all." Bernard says before he turns around.

Almost immediately, snoring could be heard from Bernard's couch, indicating he was asleep. "He's already asleep? Jesus, he really is an old man." Matt says. He turned to Hunter's couch and heard snoring coming from there as well. "Really?"

"Guess the day really got to them." Camryn says. "So where are you gonna sleep?" Matt walked away from her. "Mattifier?"

Matt walked up to a window and looked outside, seeing the nighttime sky filled with stars as well as the moon. Camryn walked up to him and stood next, also looking out the window.

"I used to hate loud noises… but now it's just creepy without them." Matt says above a whisper.

Camryn turned to Matt and stared at him, watching as he absentmindedly looked at the moon in the night sky; she sighed afterwards as she looked down. "You know," she begins. "when all of this started, I was actually at my twirl team practice. We were getting ready for a football game. The Warriors vs the Knights. I was in the girl's locker room getting changed when it happened. I heard a scream from the bathroom so I went to check it out. When I walked in, I saw one of my teammates, Debbie Hotchner, getting eaten alive by one of the book club members. I ran out of there as fast as I could when I saw the whole gymnasium get filled with walkers."

"What happened afterwards?" Matt asks.

"I ran home to see my parents and we escaped the town but they…" Camryn went silent as she looked down in sadness. Matt knew what she meant by the lack of a response. "Afterwards, I found a small group of people that eventually turned into the Timberwolves. Back then, Cyrus wasn't so… megalomaniacal. He was really quiet back then."

"That's hard to picture." Matt mumbles.

"What about you?" Camryn asks.

"Home when it happened. Back in Georgia." Matt answers.

Camryn sighed afterwards. "It's funny how a zombie apocalypse could bring so many people together for a number of reasons." she says.

Matt went silent, genuinely unable to come up with a witty remark for her statement. "Yeah." is what he settled on.

"Were you ever in any relationships back before all this happened?" Camryn suddenly asks.

"Two." Matt replies. "One in my freshman year and the other at the beginning of my sophomore year. Both didn't really last that long… unlike me in bed." Matt chuckled afterwards.

"Were you happy?" Camryn asks.

"In bed? Of course." Matt replies.

"No! I meant with your relationships!" Camryn quickly clarifies, madly blushing at the thought of him in bed.

"Oh." Matt replies. "Nah, not really. I didn't really feel happy with them. I felt… empty. Like… I was signing a contract or something… I dunno… maybe relationships aren't for me."

"Mmh." was all Camryn said.

"What about you?" he asks.

Camryn chuckled silently. "No." she answers. "No one really saw me attractive so I was always single. I was always that awkward girl on the twirl team that played Dungeons and Dragons at lunch. I wasn't really popular in high school."

"I doubt that." Matt says.

Camryn turned to him. "What do you mean?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The attractive part." he clarifies, still looking outside. "You're actually really attractive. In fact you're really cute." Camryn's face immediately turned red as she felt her cheeks heat up. "Popular or not popular, you would've found someone in the future in the end. Sure you were weird but that's what makes you unique. Weird people are the best people. They're not ordinary and they don't fit into society where one could blend in with the crowd. Weird people are always the most exuberant, most colorful people out there that you can immediately pick out from a crowd… If it helps… I would've dated you if I went to your school."

While he spoke, Matt still retained his nonchalant, carefree expression as he continued to stare outside into the moon. Camryn's face was all kinds of red as she looked down, unable to fight the giant smile that was slowly growing on her face. It wasn't until she heard snorting that brought her out of this state; she turned to Matt where she saw him snorting some more cocaine from the bag he took from the burning hotel.

"Is that the-?!" she was unable to find the words to shout in utter disbelief.

"Shut up." he groaned as he sniffed some excess cocaine before coughing. "I haven't had some in a long time."

"You…" She quickly swiped the bag out of Matt's hands. "Go to bed!" she ordered.

"I'll try to but-" he sniffed some cocaine off his upper lip. "I don't think I can with all this coke in my system."

"How many times have you hit this bag?"

"Three."

Camryn rolled her eyes as she groaned in annoyance; she quickly opened the window and threw the bag of cocaine out the window, much to Matt's chagrin. "My coke!" he shouted as he went to grab the bag, failing in the end.

The bag landed on the ground but because it was still zipped, the contents inside still remained. "I'm going to bed." Camrn announces as she closes the window.

Matt glared at her. "Remember when I called you cute earlier? I take it back!" Matt shouted.

"Shut up, kid! I'm trying to sleep!" Hunter shouted from his couch.

"I'll knock you out and MAKE YOU GO TO SLEEP!" Matt shouted back.

"WOULD YOU TWO SHUT YO ASSES UP?!" Bernard shouted, ending the small feud between the two.

Outside, a walker passed the bag of cocaine on the ground as it continued to stroll down the sidewalk, in search of some food.

* * *

Cryus smoked his cigarette as he looks at the empty bed that once belonged to Jericho, having an expression of disappointment. He puffed out some smoke as he sighed heavily before walking out of the infirmary. "What did I get myself into?" Cyrus asks himself as he walks out of the infirmary.

"Cyrus." says a Timberwolf down the hall, approaching.

"Yes?" Cyrus asks.

"Remember how you sent us to go search for da doctor after he didn't come back?" the Timberwolf asks in an African accent

"Did you find him?"

"Just the parts they didn't like." the Timberwolf grimly replies.

Cyrus groaned heavily as she threw his cigarette down onto the ground, stepping on it with his boot. "How did I know Jericho would go AWOL?" he asks himself. "What about Chatterbox and Abby?"

"We don't know sir." the Timberwolf replies. "They're probably still searching for da prisoners."

"Let's hope that's all they're doing." Cyrus looked out the window and sighed heavily.

* * *

Chatterbox and Abigail slept soundly next to each other in the trailer for the night, Abigail sleeping on Chatterbox's chest, having dragged Mick Swagger's corpse out of the trailer. Outside, a grave could be seen with two sticks to make it as a tombstone, with Mick Swagger's note taped to the twigs. A figure walked passed the trailer and pass the sewer that Matt and the others went down earlier that day.

That figure was none other than Jericho, still on the hunt for Matt, revenge fueling his anger and rage. He quietly and quickly slipped through a narrow alleyway, still tracking the four survivors. As he exited it on the other side, a lone walker started to approach him. Having no time to doddle, Jericho quickly grabbed the collar of the walker's shirt, pulled it down and slammed it to the ground before stomping on it's head, crushing it and killing it.

Jericho continued with his revenge quest, stepping over the corpse of the dead walker he just recently killed. He turned the corner of a bookstore as he disappeared into the night.

* * *

Camryn slept soundly on the floor where she laid on some blankets. She was suddenly awoken by the sounds of moaning and groaning, prompting her to open her eyes. She turned to her side to see that Matt was no longer sleeping next to her, all while the moaning and groaning continued. She got up and left the room as she followed the moms and groans. She turned the corner and through the moonlight, she could see Matt in the corner of the hall sitting on a chair. His back was turned to her as his arm repeatedly moved up and down as he continued to moan and groan.

Camryn's eyes immediately widened as a blush formed on her face as she realized what he was doing. However, instead of looking away, she couldn't stop staring. Something inside her wouldn't let her move her eyes away from what Matt was doing. At that moment, everything got hotter in her private area as she could feel her panties getting kind of damp. She instinctively moved her hand to her crotch area, causing her to moan a bit herself, as her other hand cupped her breast.

Matt suddenly turned around where it was revealed he was tightly gripping his wrist as he twisted it a bit. He moaned and groaned in slight discomfort before he twisted his wrist, earning an audible cracking noise. He sighed in relief as he shook his wrist.

"That's the last time I swing an axe with my least dominant hand." he says to himself as he begins walking down the hall.

Camryn immediately turned around and got back in her sleeping spot where she placed a blanket over herself. Matt entered the room as he laid back down in his spot as he groaned in the process.

"Ain't the first time I had to piss in a corner." he says to himself.

Shortly afterwards, slight, quiet snores could be heard from him. Camryn had an angry and agitated expression on her face as she let her perverted side loose for a brief second. Now she was horny and angry.

"Screw it." she whispers to herself as she moves her hand towards her crotch area.

After a while, quiet moans could be heard from her side of the room in the middle of the night.

* * *

The next day, Matt, Bernard, Hunter, and Camryn walked through the empty streets, having gotten a good night's rest and ready to escape the city. "Search these stores. There might be something useful in there." Bernard suggests.

"Yes sir, general!" Matt exclaims as he salutes him.

Bernard rolled his eyes as he groaned in response as he walked towards a game store. Matt headed towards an abandoned toy store, with the letters on top of the store either missing or have fallen off. He grabbed the handle and pulled on it, though it didn't open. He raised his foot in the air, ready to kick down the door until he noticed the "Push" sign on the door. He slowly lowered his foot and sheepishly chuckled to himself before pushing the door.

As soon as he entered the toy store, he immediately noticed something was wrong. For starters, the toy store seemed untouched by the apocalypse, having clean carpet, working lights, and organized toys in their respective boxes. However, all the toys in the toy store appeared to be nothing but Barleycorn. The same pink stuffed elephant strapped to Matt's chest. The other odd part of the toy store was that there was a man wearing a walker's face as a mask which draped over his eyes as blood soaked his face behind the counter.

"Heeeeeey, how's it going?" asks the young man in an oddly cheery expression.

The man wore a black leather trench coat with a black hat that had the words MORNING WOOD on it with a ponytail in the back. He wore a black shirt underneath his trench coat that simply had the symbol of the Timberwolves. The young man also spotted a pair of leather gloves; however, the young man appeared to be oddly similar to Matt himself, facial structure wise, as well as a burn mark on his cheek. The same kind of burn mark Matt had when Murrdock tortured him the other day.

Utterly baffled by the whole scenario, Matt glanced to the side of the room where he immediately screamed. In various parts of the store were the corpses of his friends, Hunter, Bernard, and Camryn. All of them were brutally murdered and defiled as blood stained the walls and carpet.

"I'm glad you're here because I've got something important to tell you." the young man says, getting Matt's attention. "All of this…" he gestured to the entire store. "it isn't really happening." Matt raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You look like you don't believe me. Here. Let me show you."

All of a sudden, the walls, floor, and ceiling of the toy store turned to static for a split second before going back to normal. Matt blinked rapidly trying to adjust his eyes to the sudden static as he turned his head to the side. The three corpses of his friends that were once there were no longer there, though the blood stains still remained. Matt turned back to the man, revealing that his walker mask was gone, exposing his full face which look eerily similar to his own. Same scars, same heterochromic eyes. The only difference was a gold tooth replacing the same tooth that Matt lost during his torture, as well as his sinister smile that was radiating insanity. His entire face was still soaked with blood from the walker mask he had on, though he either chose to ignore this or was completely oblivious to the fact, as if it wasn't really there.

"Welcome to Graham's Toy Farm." the man greeted, acting as if nothing happened? Have come here to buy some toys? We have a huge sale on Floyd the Pink Elephant going on. Built in voice box that gives you compliments and guarantees to keep the kids safe from the boogie man at night."

"Uh- Wha- What's going on?" Matt asks, utterly confused.

"Are you alright, sir?" the man asks in a polite manner, suddenly changing from his creepy persona to a more normal, professional attitude.

"Uuuh… Yeah?" Matt answers in uncertainty.

"You don't look like it. Why don't you have a seat. I have some questions for you." the man smiles, returning to his creepy act. Matt grew an even more confused expression. "Three questions. You ready?" the man asks. Matt adjusted Barleycorn that was strapped to his chest, not even able to take in the odd environment. "First question: Do you have fun killing people?" the man asks.

Matt glances at the side of the room before looking back at the man, confused at his odd question. To be completely honest, he was still surprised to see a man that appeared to not be affected by the apocalypse standing before him.

"Question number two: Do you even know who you are?"

Matt continued to give him a look of disbelief mixed with slight fear. The man's smile suddenly turned to one of maliciousness.

"And the final question…" The man got closer as shadows formed on his face. "Are we really having this conversation?"

"I uh… Uh…" Was all Matt could say.

"It's almost time to go, Matt. But before you go, I have three predictions for you." The man says as he points his index finger in the air. "Prediction number one: Someone close to you will soon leave you."

Matt continued to give him a slightly scared look.

"Prediction number two: You will find yourself in another city. And finally, prediction number three: You _will_ die… and be someone new."

"Wha…"

"I'm gonna be honest with you… Things aren't gonna end well for you." the man mysteriously says. "You're gonna end up all alone and everything you do from now on will be completely and utterly pointless and serve no purpose. You can't do anything to change any of this. You're stuck, and it's all your fault."

"What do you mean?" Matt asks.

"You won't understand why these things are happening to you. You will never see the whole picture." the man continues.

"I don't understand." Matt replies.

"Four people in your life have already changed you and you don't even know." The man held up four fingers. "The Sadist. The Liar. The Psychopath. And the Leader."

"Who are they?" Matt asks, getting desperate for answers.

"Now, let's head back to question number three, shall we?" The man's smile turned to a mischievous one. "Is the conversation we're having really happening?"

At that moment, his entire body turned to that of static for a brief second before he turned into a walker. Started by the walker's sudden appearance, Matt screamed as he grabbed his shock prod and extended it. He jabbed the shock prod into the head of the walker before electrocuting it, killing it instantly.

Matt panted as he stared at the corpse of the walker that fell to the ground in front of him. He looked all around him to see that the once neat and tidy store was now littered with garbage, mold, the faint smell of blood and decomp, and the walls tearing.

"Kid!" shouted a voice from outside, getting Matt's attention. He turned around to see Hunter at the doorway. "We're heading out. You find anything here?"

Matt hesitated on answering before turning to the corpse of the walker. "No… No I didn't." he answers.

"Well hurry up. We're moving."

With that, Hunter closed the door and went back out into the street, leaving Matt by himself in the toy store. He looked all around him, seeing the abandoned toy store all run down as opposed to the neat and tidy toy store that was untouched by the apocalypse that he just hallucinated. He turned around and exited the store to go meet up with his VERY alive friends.

* * *

Abigail and Chatterbox, having gotten a good night's rest, walked through the small woods behind the city they just exited, still searching for the escaped prisoners. "How long have we been out here?" Abigail asked, fatigue setting in.

Chatterbox pressed a button on their cassette tape. _~Do you know what time it is?~_

"I don't know, I asked you." Abigail replies in a tired tone.

_~It's getting hot.~_

"I think it's winter. I'm not sure." Abigail replies. She suddenly stopped in her tracks, hearing something in the distance. "Stop… Do you hear that?"

_~The sound that a giraffe makes-~_

Abigail quickly knocked the tape out of Chatterbox's hand, causing it to stop mid sentence. She earned a glare from the masked Timberwolf though she couldn't tell because of said mask.

"We've been walking for hours! We haven't seen anyone!" exclaimed a voice.

"They're probably all dead." said another voice.

"Let's hope that asshole Matt is dead… Asshole." said a third voice.

"Guys, I think I stepped in crap. Do you smell crap?" asked a fourth voice.

"Those walkers back there were very well dressed."

"You would be too if you had those clothes."

"I'm an injured white guy."

"You're very beautiful. You pull off the injury well."

"Awww."

"That guy said Matt." Abigail whispered to her comrade. "You think it's the same guy we're looking for?"

_~Did you know that according to Abraham Maslow, the most basic needs for human beings are food, water, sleep, and sex?~_

"I heard sex!"

"Shut up, Louis."

"I guess they know we're here." Abigail says as she and Chatterbox reveal themselves.

The four survivors, who were revealed to be Joe, Jake, Jaren, and Louis, were startled by the sudden appearance by the four Timberwolves.

"Woah! A woman!" Louis exclaimed.

"Really? You're just gonna ignore the guy in the rabbit mask?" Jake asks.

_~Did you know that a 'weapon' is any device used with intent to inflict damage or harm to living beings or structures?~_ Chatterbox's cassette tape said.

"I did know that. Thank you very much." Joe says.

"Woah! Is that a rabbit mask?!" Louis exclaimed loudly.

"It took you this long to realize this?" Jake asks.

"Which one of you knows where Matt is?" Abigail asks.

"Hopefully dead somewhere!" Jaren shouted.

"Alright. It seems to me that we're gonna have to do this the hard way." Abigail says.

She suddenly pulled out her paddle with two blades duct taped at the end while Chatterbox took out their mace. The four survivors merely looked at the two Timberwolves with wide eyes and _very_ scared expressions.

"Fuck." Was all Joe said.

* * *

Matt, Hunter, Bernard, and Camryn have managed to reach the outskirts of the city, where they were in a construction site filled with many ditches and machinery of construction.

"So Camryn," Matt suddenly speaks up. "how's it like being a woman?"

Bernard groaned in annoyance as Hunter gave a tired expression. "Oh God." Hunter says.

Camryn chuckled a bit."It's hard to explain." she casually replies.

"I mean, I know about the thing that happens every month. What's that like?"

"Well it's sorta like having a cramp down there." Camryn begins to explain. "Not in your vagina but in the area below the stomach that's above the vagina. Like, when that part starts cramping, it means that the body is just getting like tissue that it doesn't need anymore. That's why there's blood involved."

"What about the cravings and the angry personality?" Matt asks.

"Because we're so sick of having periods." Camryn replies.

"I would too if my dick started pissing out blood."

"I think that's just chlamydia, Mattatron."

"Maybe." Matt says.

For a while, no one says anything until Matt says the most unpredictable question at that very moment.

"Are you a virgin?"

"Oh my God!" Hunter shouted.

"Tell me this boy ain't for real." Bernard says in an annoyed tone.

"What? Genuine question." Matt reasoned.

"You're about to get a genuine ass whoopin' if you continue." Bernard threatens.

"Yes, Mattifier. I'm a virgin." Camryn replies.

"Really? I would have never guessed." Matt replies.

"Like I said before, I wasn't really the most popular kid in school." Camryn says.

"But you're still cute and pretty. That's gotta count for something at least." Matt casually replies:

Camryn turned her head the other way to avoid eye contact with him as a huge blush appeared on her cheeks. As the four continued walking in the construction site when Matt suddenly fell down a ditch. Before he fell to the bottom, Hunter managed to grab his hand, catching him on time. The teen looked down and grew wide eyes before screaming.

"Heilige Scheiße! (Holy shit!)" Matt yelled at the top of his lungs.

The deep and large ditch that Matt almost fell in was revealed to be infested with walkers, all whom were growling as they tried to reach Matt's ankles, but to no avail

"Pull me up! Pull me up! Pull me up! Pull me up you dummkopf!" Matt shouted repeatedly. Hunter started pulling his friend back up. "Muss schnell! Schnell!"

Hunter pulled Matt back up onto the surface as he got on his knees and his hands. "I'll be damned." Bernard says. "That's a lot of walkers."

"You think they fell in there on their own?" Camryn asks.

"Quite possibly." replies a voice from a distance.

The small group of four looked ahead of them to see a hooded figure standing on the other side of the ditch with his face hidden by several bandages. The ominous figure glared daggers at the small group; more specifically, he was staring directly at Matt. This was, without a doubt, Jericho.

"Who the hell is that?" Hunter asks.

"Darth Vader… on a diet?" Matt quips in theory.

"You don't remember me?" Jericho asks, his voice still raspy from his lung injury.

"No. Should I?" Matt asks.

"Maybe this will ring a bell. You mess with the wolf, you get the fangs!" Jericho shouts.

"Crash Jackson?" Matt asks.

Jericho raised a burnt eyebrow. "What?" he asks, genuinely confused.

"Are you my sophomore bully? I thought you died in the early days." Matt replies.

"No! I'm Jericho!" Jericho shouted.

"Who?" Matt asks, genuinely confused.

"Really?!" Jericho shouts in utter disbelief.

"You gotta excuse him. He's kind of not right in the head." Camryn calls out.

"More like mentally unchecked." Hunter mumbles to himself.

"I don't think Barleycorn and I don't recognize you." Matt calls back.

"Who the hell is Barleycorn?" Jericho asks.

"What?" Matt shouts, unable to hear him.

"What?" Jericho shouts back, also unable to hear his enemy.

"Speak up! I can't hear you over all the growling from the walkers!"

"I can't- Say that again! The growling is too loud!"

"What about J. K. Rowling being so proud?!"

"Wait. What?!"

"Do you have any idea what he's saying?" Matt asks his friends.

"I think both of you guys are having two different conversations." Hunter replies.

"I kind of zoned out when you mentioned your school bully to be honest." Bernard reveals in a carefree, yet tired, tone.

"Do you really not remember me?!" Jericho shouted.

"What's this about a sea anemone?!" Matt asks, still unable to hear him.

"Forget this!" Jerichou shouts as he pulls out a revolver and aims it at the group.

"Is that a gun?" Matt asks.

Jericho fired the gun, which whizzed passed the entire group. Hunter, Bernard, and Camryn all grew scared and surprised looks as Matt continued to have the same confused expression on his face as he squinted his eyes to get a better look.

"I think it's a radio." he says to himself.

Camryn immediately grabbed him and brought him behind some cinder blocks for cover.

"Aaaaaah, uh no." Camryn replies.

Jericho continued to fire his gun over at the cinder blocks that Matt and Camryn were hiding behind. The bullets hit the edges of the cinder blocks, sending pebbles and dust of the blocks onto the ground next to the two.

"Erschieße den Bastard! (Shoot the bastard!)" Matt shouted.

"What?" Camryn asks, not understanding what he said.

"SHOOT YOUR GUN!"

Camryn immediately raised her gun from over the blocks and aimed it, only to not fire her gun as she grew a confused look.

"Where'd he go?" she asks.

She was suddenly hit on the side of the head by the butt of a revolver. Jericho managed to flank the two as he knocked Camryn out. He towered over Matt as he glared daggers at him.

"We meet again, Cinderella." Jericho growls.

"You know, I thought you died in that explosion yesterday." Matt says.

"Well I guess that makes me," he suddenly removed his hood as he took off his bandages. His face was revealed to be heavily scarred as one of his eyeballs were completely white. Most of his hair was gone as his entire face was nothing but consisted of third degree burn scars. "a walker!"

"Oh mein Gott." Matt gasps as he stared at Jericho's face.

"Terrified?" Jericho asks in a threatening tone.

"That's a face that not even a mother could love." Matt says.

Jericho yelled as he aimed his revolver at Matt's head; however, the teen acted quickly as he kicked Jericho's hand upwards, prompting him to accidentally fire his gun. He then kicked Jericho straight in the crotch with his other foot, causing him to groan in pain.

At that moment, Hunter came out of nowhere as he tackled Jericho to the ground. Bernard suddenly ran over to Camryn's unconscious body as he dragged her out of the area.

"Bernard! Walkers!" Matt shouted.

Bernard turned his head to the entrance of the construction site, seeing a huge horde of walkers approaching the group.

"Aw hell. This is about to get bad." Bernard mumbles as he carried Camryn away.

Hunter was suddenly punched off Jericho as he towered over him. "My business is with Cinderella and Cinderella alone!" he shouts before raising his foot in the air, hovering over Hunter's face.

Hunter braced for impact as he used his arms to cover the stomp. However, the stomp never came as Matt pushed Jericho to the ground, both of them falling into a small ditch. A ditch with _no_ walkers inside.

"Hunter!" Bernard shouts from behind. "We need to take care of this horde!" Camryn was lying against a block of bricks.

Hunter turned to the side where he saw the huge horde approaching him and the others. He quickly grabbed his grenade launcher and fired it, launching a projectile at the horde. Multiple pieces of walker guts and limbs flew into the air as the projectile exploded upon impact.

Back in the ditch, Matt groaned in discomfort as he picked himself up; a single foot stepped in front of him, prompting him to look up. There, he saw Jericho glaring down on him.

"You've been a thorn to my side, Cinderella." Jericho says.

He suddenly raised his foot in and air and slammed it down; however, Matt rolled to the side just in time before quickly standing back up. He quickly unstrapped Barleycorn that was strapped to his chest and threw him to the side, knowing he would need as little objects in his way as possible.

Jericho suddenly pulled out a makeshift axe; Matt's eyes widened as he stared at the murderous weapon his enemy was holding.

"Oh shit." he mumbles.

"**I'm gonna show the true dangers OF A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE!"** Jericho shouted as he started to maniacally laugh.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Matt says.

Jericho suddenly lunged forward, raising his axe into the air as he slammed it down towards Matt. The teen however rolled out of the way as he pulled out his own axe, gripping it tightly. He quickly stood back up as he wielded his axe, watching as his enemy scowled at him. Jericho suddenly rushed forward as he raised his axe in the air and swung it down, only for Matt to block the attack by using his axe as a shield. Jericho used his leg to trip Matt to the ground, falling on his back.

The teen looked up to see Jericho raising his axe in the air; acting quickly, Matt rolled to the side just as the axe slammed into the ground. Using this opportunity, Matt forcefully kicked Jericho in the leg, causing him to yell out in pain as he fell to his knee. Matt backed up quickly as he stood back up on his feet, his hands tightly gripping the hilt of the axe in his hand. Jericho regained his composure as he kicked dirt into Matt's general direction, blinding the teen. He used the cloud of dirt as a way to blind his opponent as he went in for the kill.

Matt, realizing he was vulnerable, quickly backed up to get away from his enemy. Jericho swung his axe horizontally, slicing Matt's jacket and shirt, creating a tear in it. Matt rubbed the dirt out of his eyes just in time to see Jericho rushing at him, raising his axe in the air. He gasped as he dodged out of the way, resulting in Jericho slamming his axe into the thick wall of dirt. The former Timberwolf turned around to see Matt swinging his axe towards him. He ducked out of the way in time as Matt slammed his axe into the dirt wall, right above where Jericho's axe was.

Now both of their axes were stuck in the wall of dirt, resulting in Matt and Jericho to briefly glance at each other. They then both suddenly pulled out their revolvers, before both having surprised expressions.

"Really? You're copying me?" Jericho asks in disbelief.

"You're- You're copying me. I had this way before you did." Matt replies.

Matt quickly ducked out of the way in time as Jericho shot his gun, the bullet whizzing passed his long hair. Matt suddenly punched Jericho in the gut, resulting in him groaning in pain. The teen suddenly punched Jericho's hand, causing him to lose his grip and accidentally tossing his gun to the side. Matt then aimed his own revolver and pulled the trigger.

**CLICK!**

"Damn suicide revolver!" Matt shouts in anger.

Jericho grabbed Matt's wrist and pushed it in the air, causing Matt to accidentally pull the trigger several times.

**CLICK!**

**CLICK!**

**BANG!**

"_Now_ it fires!" Matt shouts in extreme frustration.

Jericho suddenly placed his hand around Matt's neck, choking him; Matt retaliated by headbutting his enemy in the nose, breaking it. Jericho yelled in pain as he released his grip from Matt; the teen however spat right in his face before violently shoving him to the ground. Jericho, now on his back with a bleeding nose, groaned as he began to back up while Matt approached him, aiming his revolver to his head.

**CLICK!**

Matt grew an angry look. "Forget this!" he shouts as he tosses the gun to the side.

He then got on top of Jericho as he tightly balled his fists; he then started going on a violent assault as he continuously started punching Jericho right in the face, getting harder and harder by the second. Jericho suddenly grabbed one of Matt's fists, stopping the assault, as he sent his own punch to Matt's jaw. The punch was strong enough to push Matt off of him as he fell on his back while Jericho was now the one standing over him. Matt looked up to see Jericho's foot hovering over him, prompting him to roll out of the way just in time for Jericho's foot to stomp onto the ground.

Improvising, Matt grabbed Jericho's ankle and bit right into it. Causing Jericho to scream out in pain. Improvising some more, Matt punched Jericho right in the love sack, earning a painful groan from the former Timberwolf. The teen stood up and wrapped his arms around Jericho's entire waist before using all of his strength to lift him up. He then threw him as hard as he could behind him, causing Jericho to groan in even more pain. Jericho suddenly used his legs to trip the teen next to him, causing him to fall down into the dirt.

The former Timberwolf suddenly got on top of Matt and balled up his own fists; the teen stared up in shock as Jericho went in for the assault. However, he quickly reacted as he caught both of Jericho's fists before kicking him off of him, sending him flying backwards as he fell on his butt. Matt quickly got up as Jericho got up as well, both balling their fists as they got ready for a good ol' fashion fist fight. They orbited around each other as the sounds of gunfire could be heard in the distance.

Jericho made the first move as he went in for the punch, only for Matt to intercept it by blocking it before counter attacking his enemy. He suddenly kicked Jericho in the knee, prompting him to fall to it as he went in for another punch. Jericho managed to block the attack as he forcefully brought Matt to his level before punching him in the face, sending him backwards a bit. The former Timberwolf proceeded to march his way towards Matt as he punched him in the gut.

Jericho went in for another punch only for Matt to dodge out of the way just in time and pull him forwards. There, he did a karate chop to the back of Jericho's head, instantly knocking him out as he fell to the dirt below. Matt then started looking everywhere, trying to find a way to finish Jericho off completely. His attention then suddenly turned to a hook attached to a crane. Right at that moment, an idea formed in his head; he quickly grabbed the hook and strapped it to Jericho's belt before running towards his crane. Jericho groaned as he shook his head, before realizing that there was extra weight to his body. He turned around to see that there was a hook stuck to his belt; he grabbed the hook and tried to pull it off only to realize that it was jammed inside, fiercely stuck.

He then heard machinery whirring up as he was suddenly lifted into the air; he screamed as he stared at the person responsible for this. There, he saw Matt sitting in the control seats, glaring at him through the glass.

"Cinderella!" Jericho shouts. Matt pushed a lever as the crane started to shift towards the other ditch, the ditch full of walkers. "Cinderella, I swear! When I get out of here! I'm gonna skin you alive and feed your bones to my dogs!" Matt didn't say a word as he pulled another lever. "Fight me like a man, Cinderella! I'm not afraid of you! I'm not afraid of anything! I'm-"

He suddenly heard growling below him, which only gave him a terrified expression. He looked down to see that he was slowly being lowered into the ditch of walkers. His breath hitched before getting shaky as his lower lip trembled; he looked back up at Matt with a terrified expression on his face.

"Cinderella! Stop this right now!" he pleaded. Matt didn't say a word and only continued to glare at him. "I promise I won't hurt you! I promise! Please! Please, not like this! I have kids!"

The walkers below him continued to growl as they extended their hands, trying to grab onto their prey.

"No. No! NO! No no no! Nooo! Aaaah! Aah- AAH! AAAAAH! No!" Jericho screamed. He looked down to see that he was getting closer and closer to the hungry walks. "OH NOOOO! AH! AH NO! NONONO! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Jericho was finally lowered into the ditch of walkers as Matt stared at the bloody scene in front of him with a hateful glare. The sounds of flesh being ripped and blood gushing apart could be heard in the distance while all Matt could do was just stare at the scene. His hateful glare turned into an empty expression as he didn't take his eyes off the scene, as if he wasn't affected by the horrific death happening in front of him.

The sounds of gunfire got his attention as he snapped back into reality, turning to the side to see his friends firing at the large horde of walkers slowly approaching them. Matt quickly got out of the crane and ran towards them, grabbing his axe in the process.

Bernard was busying chainsawing some walkers, completely unaware of a walker approaching him from the side. The walker opened up its jaw as it prepared to chomp down on it's prey. However, an axe got stuck into its head and destroyed it's brain, killing it instantly. The middle aged African-American turned around to see the young adult behind him, kicking the dead walker of his axe.

"Merry Christmas." he says.

Bernard smiled in return. "We need to get out of here! There's too many of these things!" Hunter shouts as he drags the unconscious Camryn away from the herd.

"Head into that trailer!" Matt ordered as he and Bernard ran towards the trailer.

Eventually, Hunter dragged Camryn into the trailer before firing his grenade launcher at the large horde, killing some of the walkers; he slammed the door shut afterwards. However, unbeknownst to the four people, a small group of survivors watched them through a pair of binoculars on top of a low level building across the street.

"Was that them?" asks one of the survivors.

"Yeah, that was them." replies a familiar voice.

* * *

"We're trapped!" Hunter shouts as he catches his breath.

"There ain't nowhere to run!" Bernard shouts as well.

Right at that moment, Camryn woke up from being knocked out. "What happened?" she asks, rubbing her head where she got hit from Jericho.

"We got no place to go… This is it… We're done for." Matt grimly says.

Camryn got up and looked at her friends, seeing defeated expressions on their faces; Hunter was bending down as he was catching his breath, Bernard was leaning against the wall, and Matt just finished kicking a chair out of anger. The Filipina teen turned out the window to see the huge horde of walkers slowly approaching them. She furrowed her eyebrows and turned to face her friends.

"So this is it? We're just gonna give up?" she asks her friends.

"What else can we do?" Hunter asks. "There's like hundreds of walkers out there and only four of us."

"The youngin's got a point." Bernard agrees.

"We're survivors. That's what we do… We survive." she tells the group. "I don't know about you guys but I'm not ready to die. And I'm _certainly_ not ready to die in this trailer like Mick Swagger!"

"Still don't know who that is." Matt says aloud.

"You guys can stay in here but me…" She grabbed her M16 that Hunter had in his hand and cocked it. "I'm fighting for my life and I will go down with a fight! I'm a survivor and I'm gonna keep surviving till the very end! Hunter! You were one of America's celebrities who hunted ghosts like no other! Even the Ghostbusters didn't stand a chance against you."

"Well, I _was_ a pretty big deal." Hunter says.

"Yeah. 'Was'." Matt clarified.

"Mattitron, you're hardcore and you don't take shit from anyone else. You make this world your bitch and you walk all over it because you don't care. You're the true definition of a survivor, Matt." Camryn tells her crush.

Matt grew a smile from her compliment; the Filipina then pointed to Bernard.

"Bernard, you're the oldest and wisest out of all of us and you lost someone very important to you. Are you really gonna die in here without a fight? Is that really wise of you to do so? What would Cheryl say?" she asks.

Bernard flinched at the sound of his dead friend's name before pondering for a moment. "She would say… to never give up."

"Exactly. So are we gonna sit in here with our thumbs up our asses just waiting for those walkers to barge in here… or are we gonna do what we're supposed to do? Survive." she asks.

The three males looked at the only female of the group before turning to each other. They seemed to have silently agreed on something as they all grew determined expressions at the same time.

"You're one hell of a motivational speaker, youngin'." Bernard says as he grabs his chainsaw. "I will keep survivin' even if I have to kill every one of these bastards with my own bare hands."

Hunter loaded a grenade into his grenade launcher. "I may have hunted ghosts before but I'm not ready to become one yet." Hunter quotes.

Camryn cocked her machine gun as the four turned to the trailer door. "If it's not one of us… kill it." she says.

Matt strapped Barleycorn back onto his chest before grabbing his axe. "I have not… come this far… to die now." he says in a heavy voice.

Matt kicked the door off it's hinges as it got sent flying out of the trailer; the walkers that passed the group turned to the four who walked out of the trailer. Camryn aimed her gun, Hunter readied his grenade launcher, Matt tightened the grip on his axe, and Bernard revved up his chainsaw.

"Fuck 'em up!" Matt shouts.

Right at that moment, the four survivors started fighting intensely for their lives as the walkers started approaching them, immediately getting slaughtered as they neared the four survivors.

* * *

"_The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four people is suffering from a mental illness. Look at your 3 best friends. If they're ok, then it's you."_

* * *

**(Oh my god! This took so long! Why did it take so lo- Yeah, I was busy with other shit, okay? Just be glad you got an update.**

**I"m just kidding, I luv u guys 3**

**Big Mcthankies from McSpankies for Mr. PotassiumK for coming up with the idea of Chatterbox's name... Yes, Chatterbox is based off of Jacket from Payday 2... No, I am not ashamed.**

…

**Can quarantine end now?)**


	5. The End of the Beginning

**(Here it is, the final chapter. I just want to say thank you to for letting me write this spin off of a future character. I also want to thank all of you for taking your time and reading this spin off. I enjoy writing content and spreading my imagination. I still have a lot of maturing to do but I'll always be the creative bee I am. Thank you, Potassium and I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far.**

**Go read 's Loud House fanfiction story titled **_**Infection of the Dead**_**. If you like The Walking Dead and The Loud House, you'll love his story for sure. I'll see you guys at the end of the chapter…**

…

**Well not "see" as in with my eyes. I was just figuratively spea- Aaaaaaah, this is the changing the subject sooooong! This is the changing the subject sooooooong!**

**Let's just start this already.**

* * *

Joe groaned in pain as he began to violently cough, spitting a wad of blood as well as a tooth onto the floor. His whole face was beaten and bruised as several cuts were all over his face. He gasped, panted, and coughed some more as he looked forward, seeing Chatterbox standing over him. Chatterbox suddenly punched Joe in the stomach, causing him to groan in pain as he coughed up more blood onto the floor. He looked up only to be met with a fist as he got punched in the face yet again.

His vision blackened and blurred as his ears began ringing; eventually everything returned back to normal as Joe continued to cough up a storm, spitting out more blood. He looked at his attacker once more and was immediately punched in the face again. This time, his vision as well as his hearing completely went before they returned to normal. His ears rang as his vision began to clear up once more. Blood splattered all over the wooden boards next to Joe as he coughed up more blood. He looked up to see Chatterbox raising their fist in the air again. However, Joe raised his hands in the air as a form of surrender.

"Hey! Hey! Enough, alright?" Joe pleaded as he coughed up more blood. "I told you everything you guys wanted to know! I don't know where Matt or the other prisoners are, I swear!... Just stop… please…" Joe coughed some more.

Chatterbox suddenly reached into their back pocket and grabbed a tape recorder before pressing a button.

_~The Grey Wolf is known as the Timber Wolf in North America and the White Wolf in the Arctic, or more generally as the Common Wolf..~_ An automatic woman's voice was heard on the cassette tape.

"What?" Joe asked, slightly creeped out at the man's non verbal way of communication.

Chatterbox suddenly reached into their front pocket and pulled out a wolf's fang, handing it to Joe, which confused him even more.

"What the-... What is this? A wolf's fang?" Joe asked.

His hands were suddenly grabbed as Chatterbox brought them to the armrests of the chair he was sitting on. Chatterbox suddenly wrapped duct tape on his wrists, trapping them onto the arm rests. Joe continued to cough more blood, being in excruciating pain.

**Bonk.**

Joe's eyes turned to the door as he heard the sound of an object hitting a wall.

**Bonk.**

This time, the sound got louder as Joe began to wonder who it was that was making that sound.

**Bonk.**

Joe then realized it was the sound of a baseball bat hitting the concrete wall, which only got louder each time.

**Bonk.**

At that moment, Cyrus appeared in the doorway, holding a metallic baseball bat in his hands. He patted the bat into the palm of his hand as he stared expressionless at Joe. The sight of the Timberwolf leader with a deadly weapon in his hand only scared Joe some more as he began to squirm in his seat.

"No… Not him." Joe begged. Cyrus patted the bat again. "Alright. I get it. Y-Y-You want Matt, right? I- I can give him to you personally! I swear! I can bring him to you!"

Cyrus began to slowly walk up to Joe who was handcuffed to the chair. Joe began to panic as he tried to back up, only to realize that the Timberwolf behind him was restraining him from moving his chair. Cyrus continued to approach the beyond terrified Joe who continued to squirm in his place, all while patting the bat in his hands.

"I'll bring you Matt, I swear!" Joe begged some more. Cyrus got in a striking stance. "Stop! PLEEEEEEE-"

The Timberwolf leader then swung the bat.

* * *

_Heya Tom, it's Bob… from the office down the hall…_

_Good to see you buddy, how've you been?_

_Things have been okay for me except that I'm a zombie now_

_I really wish you'd let us in_

_I think I speak for all of us when I say I understand_

_Why you folks might hesitate to submit to our demand_

_But here's an FYI: you're all gonna die screaming_

_All we want to do is eat your brains_

_We're not unreasonable, I mean, no one's gonna eat your eyes_

_All we want to do is eat your brains_

_We're at an impasse here, maybe we should compromise_

_If you open up the door_

_We'll all come inside and eat your brains_

**Infection of the Dead: The Other Side of Life**

* * *

"_There are times when the mind is dealt such a blow it hides itself in insanity. While this may not seem beneficial, it is. There are times when reality is nothing but pain, and to escape that pain the mind must leave reality behind."_

* * *

**6 DAYS BEFORE THE OUTBREAK**

**Savannah, Georgia**

Matt walked along the sidewalk along with two other teenagers that appeared to have been his age, a disinterested expression on his face. The teen himself was currently wearing a bright yellow T-shirt with baggy black pants and yellow sneakers. He also sported a plain yellow baseball cap with a ponytail coming out from the gap from behind. He sported a watch on his left wrist and a silver skull necklace around his neck. Beside him was an African-American teen with sunglasses, a backwards yellow baseball cap, a yellow letterman jacket, navy blue baggy jeans that sagged a little, and finally, some Timbs at the bottom. The African-American teen was currently smoking a joint beside Matt and the other teen, who appeared to have been Asian.

"Hey, lemme get a hit from some of that, Ray." Matt says to his friend.

The African-American teen, who's now known as Ray, continued to smoke the joint beside him. "Fo' sho, homie." Ray says as he passes Matt the joint.

Matt placed the joint in his mouth and began smoking it, inhaling a large quantity of it. Afterwards, he blew it out as he began to smack his lips, realizing something was off with the joint.

"Man, what's this cess bullshit?" Matt asks, almost sounding offended. "Man, you ain't got nothing real to smoke?" he asks as he passes the joint to his Asian friend.

"That ain't cess, homie." Ray replies. "That's the hydro."

The Asian friend took a hit from the joint and blew it out. "How is it, Kwak?" Matt asks.

Kwak began to smack his lips as well in response. "That's some weak ass shit, dawg." Kwak replies.

Currently, Kwak was wearing a baggy white T-shirt, a pair of yellow khaki shorts, white socks in sandals, and a yellow bandana over his forehead with a gold chain around his neck.

"Nigga, you two don't know good dope if it hits you in the face." Ray responds, taking back the smoke from Kwak.

"Where'd you get that shit, anyway?" Matt asks.

"From Blake, homie."

"Blake? That ol' geezer hasn't sold good weed or guns in over 20 years. He's done nothin' for the hood, man." Matt retorted.

"Is that why we seeing him, Ray?" Kwak asks.

"Nah, foo'. We ain't seeing' that ol' boomer motherfucker. We seein' someone new." Ray responds as he throws the joint to the ground.

"Someone new? Man, Ray, I don't think I like this, man." Matt replies.

"Chill out, homie. He's my uncle, Harold, man." Ray informs the two. "High quality drugs and guns, homie. He's the only fool around here that can off load coke, heroine, methamphetamine, you name it, under the radar."

"And what we buying?" Matt asks.

"We buyin' crack cocaine, nigga. Your favorite."

"Dude, I told you. I don't do crack no mo', man." Matt argues.

"Jyeah, that isn't what I saw when I walked in on you in the bathroom, stuffing a whole liter down the toilet. Ended clogging the damn thing." Kwak says as he chuckled.

Ray laughed out loud. "Oh-ho shit! Toilet clogger bitch." Ray laughs.

"Man, fuck y'all." Matt retorts, shoving Ray lightly.

"Hey. Hey. Hey. This the spot, homies." Ray says as they turn the corner to an alleyway. As they walked down the alleyway, they saw a middle aged man fidgeting with a gun. "That's my man right there, you know what I'm saying?"

Harold continued to fumble with the pistol, until he accidentally set it off, firing it. This caused the four to all flinch in surprise as Harold turned around.

"What the fuck?" he says as he grabs the pistol. "Hey! Did you kids shoot at me?"

The three all backed up as Harold aimed his gun at them. "Ey- Hey! Hey! Hey! Pee-Wee! It's me, Ray! Chill! Chill!" Ray shouts at his uncle.

Harold took another look at the three and lowered his gun. "Oh. S- Sorry 'bout that. My eyes haven't been what they used to be." he apologizes.

"Have they ever?" Matt sarcastically asks.

"Hey, who's this buster?" Harold asks in an offended tone.

"Chill, pops. That's my homie, Matt. You met him. Remember? He slept with your niece." Ray replies.

"Your sister?" Harold asks.

"Nah. Your brother's daughter."

"I thought we agreed not to talk about that." Matt scolds his friend.

"I heard you got some off loading, pops." Kwak suddenly spoke up. "What you got?"

"I got all kinds of things. I got a new shipment of AK's right here." Harold replies.

"Actually, pops, we were hoping for something more… profitable." Ray explained. "Something we can sell onto the streets and make money off it. You see, unlike you, gramps, we actually out here representing Atlanta Hills."

"Jyeah. That's what we are. Atlanta Hills Blazers." Kwak adds.

"Atlanta Hills? Man, ain't that street dead?" Harold asks.

"That's why we out here contributing. To help put Atlanta Hills back on the map. You see, we OG." Ray says.

"OG?" Matt questions. "Man, we ain't OG. We've been in the gang since we was like ten. We ain't OG yet."

"Man, Melvin was right 'bout you, Matty. You is a buster. Oh jyeah." Kwak tells his friend.

"Ease up, man. Damn."

"I have the coke in the garage. It's in the trunk of the car." Harold tells the group.

"Leave it in there. I know a place where we can stash it." Ray replies. He then turned to the long haired teen. "Matt, you have your driver's license, right?"

"A fake one." Matt replies.

"It's still a license. Me and Kwak don't have one so you're gonna have to drive the car."

"Aaah. Okay. I'll drive the car then."

With that, Matt got in the driver seat as Ray took the passenger seat and Kwak took the right back seat. Matt started up the car and drove out of the alley way as he turned on the radio. The song called TR20090617HH immediately played as soon as he turned on the radio… Not even kidding. That's the actual song name. Stupid, right?

"Say, I've been meaning to ask you something, homies." Ray suddenly spoke up.

"What is it, homie?" Kwak asks.

"What do you wanna do when you get older?"

"Man, you're sounding like a lil' kid, you know that?" Matt replies, chuckling a bit.

"Shut up, fool. I meant about the hood. Are you gon' stay or are you gon' go?"

"Should I stay or should I go." Kwak suddenly sang.

"I know what I want to do." Ray says.

"What's that?" Matt asks.

"Stay in the hood. The hood has been my life for as long as I could remember, homie. I ain't leavin my homies. We family, dawg. We straight. We cool." Ray replies.

"I honestly don't know what I want." Kwak spoke up. "Maybe I'll go to college."

"And what? Fall asleep in your Physics lecture? Yeah. Okay." Matt chuckles.

"Fuck you, holmes!" Kwak yells.

"What 'bout you, Matt? Whatchu wanna do?" Ray asks.

"I've actually given this some thought to be honest, Ray… I wanna move." Matt replies.

"Move? You mean out of your house?"

"I mean out of Atlanta Hills." Matt clarifies. "This life ain't for me, man. I wanted to escape the insanity in my house, but ever since I joined the Blazers, all I've been dealing with are dumb motherfuckers like you and Kwak."

"Again. Fuck you." Kwak says.

"I wanna move out of my parents house and into the city."

"What? Like Atlanta? You know they don't take too kindly to ex-gang members." Ray informs.

"I was thinking somewhere up North. Like in Michigan." Matt clarifies.

"Michigan, eh? I heard that place is a shithole of a city."

"And what? Atlanta Hills isn't? Face it Ray, I can't stay here forever, man."

"Why not?"

"Why not? Why not? Because my father's an asshole and my mother neglects me and treats me as a tool. I wanna move away from all this man. I want out of this life." Matt states.

"Is that what you _really_ want?" Kwak asks.

"Actually, the one thing _I _really want is a _real_ father figure. Not like my shithead of a dad. I want someone who treats me as their own son. Someone who respects me. Someone who is willing to protect me with all their life… I want a family." Matt replies.

"You know that ain't probably never gon' happen, right?" Ray replies.

"Yeah. I know. But a guy can dream, right?" Matt asks.

"Only when the world goes to shit will you find a father figure, holmes." Kwak began laughing out loud at his own absurd comment.

"Yeah, fuck you, too, Kwak." Matt grumbles.

The rest of the ride was in silence as Matt continued to drive down the street and to their destination. Little did they know that Kwak's statement and Matt's wishes… were to become true in less than a week.

* * *

**PRESENT TIME…**

A lone walker leaned up against a dumpster in the middle of the day, growling silently as it minded it's own business. It wasn't until it heard gunshots that grabbed it's attention, lifting it's head up before picking itself on it's feet. It growled as it began to slowly walk towards the gunshots, walking out to the street, revealing that there were a pair of scissors stabbed in it's back. As the lone walker walked out in the middle of the street, it joined a whole army of walkers which were all walking in the same direction: the construction site.

Matt had a psychopathic grin on his face as he finished decapitating a walker that lunged toward him. Beside him, Bernard continued with his rampage with his chainsaw as Hunter fired his grenade launcher at a group of walkers away from them. Camryn, whom was next to Matt, continued to fire her M16 Carbine Rifle at the heads of the walkers walking towards them. The four survivors kept on fighting and their vicious defense didn't seem to have ended, as survival was all on their minds.

Camryn's M16 suddenly clicked, indicating that she was out of ammo. "I'm out!" she shouts.

"I'm down to my last three grenades!" Hunter shouts before firing his grenade launcher again. "Two grenades!"

"I'm running on fumes here, youngins!" Bernard informs.

"Ha! Losers! I'm all fine over here! Why? BECAUSE I HAVE AN AXE!" Matt declares. He then swung his axe right into the forehead of a walker and kicked it off of it, ripping the head of the axe off the stick. "I retract my previous statement." Matt calmly says.

"So this is it?" Hunter asks as he kicks a walker away. "This is how we're going to die?"

"I'm afraid so." Matt responds. "We're trapped! There's nothing we can do!"

"What do you mean there's nothing you can do! You have like four molotovs on you!" Camryn shouts, staring at Matt's belt.

Matt looked down to see his four remaining molotovs strapped to his belt, suddenly feeling foolish. "Oh yeah! Pfft HA!" Matt let out an obnoxious laugh. He suddenly grabbed one of the molotovs and a lighter in his back pocket and lit the molotov. "Burn motherfucker!"

Matt then threw the molotov at the group of walkers, setting them ablaze; the four survivors all grew smiles, with Matt's being the most sadistic, thinking they were all in the clear. However, they lost their smiles once they realized that the fire wasn't working on the walkers, as they simply walked through the flames. The three of them all turned to Matt, who had a prominent disappointed expression on his face. He then glanced at the three before finally turning to Camryn.

"Well, I done all I could do." he lazily states.

Right at that moment, a loud shot rang out through the area as a bullet shot through the walker's head in front of the group, killing instantly.

"What the hell?" Bernard asks.

All of a sudden, a barrage of bullets began tearing up through the large horde of walkers, all grabbing their attention as some of them turned around to face the noise. A few walkers in the front continued to strut their way towards the four survivors; Matt calmly grabbed his shock prod and pressed a button, extending it before stabbing one of the walkers in the eyes. He then turned on the shock prod as he electrocuted the brain of the walker as it fell down to the ground below.

The large horde of walkers continued to walk towards the people whom were firing their bullets, which sounded more like shotguns rather than assault rifles. The four survivors all backed up as they went back inside the trailer they were previously in, hiding from the unknown invaders. Hunter closed the door as he slid down it, hiding along with his friends as they all kept quiet.

"Is it the Timberwolves?" Camryn whispers.

"I don't know." Bernard replies.

"Shh. Shh. It's okay, Barleycorn. It's okaaaay." Matt whispered to the pink elephant tied up around his waist.

Hunter only gave Matt an odd look, still unable to comprehend on how his friend was talking to a stuffed animal. All of a sudden, the various yells, shouts, and gunshots seized as everything outside went quiet.

"What happened?" Bernard whispers.

Right at that moment, three loud knocks were heard outside the trailer. "Open up. We know you're in there." said a voice.

"No we're not!" Matt shouted.

Camryn backhanded his arm. "Just open up the door. We're not going to hurt you." says the voice.

"Oh yeah? How can we trust you?" Hunter asks.

"We just saved your asses from that army of walkers. What more proof do you need?"

"You could be saving us just so you could kill us." Camryn replies.

"Look, just, open up the door. I promise, we're going to hurt you. You can either stay in there and starve to death or just come on out."

Hunter turned to the group, wondering what he should do; Bernard sighed sadly as he looked at Hunter in the eyes, nodding his head. Hunter sighed as well as he turned his head to the door.

"Okay. We're coming out." he says.

The four opened up the door and stepped outside, immediately realizing that the people outside were NOT the Timberwolves and instead, a new group entirely. What all of the survivors in this mysterious new group had in common was that they were all wearing some sort of red clothing. Some of the members of the new and mysterious group also had white tribal face paint on their faces. The person in front of them was wearing a black cargo vest with a red shirt underneath, a pair of moss green cargo pants with the cuffs tucked inside his tactical boots. Up top, he was wearing a red beret with a moss green rag over his mouth; around his arms were some red cloth armbands.

"That was a lot of walka's, wasn't it?" asks the person in front of them in an African accent.

"It uh… It sure was." Hunter stammered. "Uuh, who are you people?"

"Oh. Allow us to intwoduce oozselves. My name is Kwasi and I am the second in command of the Bessa'ka' community." Kwasi replies.

"Berserk… Berserker? Berserker?" Matt stammers, not believing what he said.

Camryn took a look at the Berserkers behind Kwasi, noting that some of them had white tribal face paint on their… well, faces.

"Yes. That's wight. Some of yoa' fwiends a' looking fo' you." Kwasi stated.

"Friends?" Bernard asks.

"You a' unta', Camwyn, Ba'nawd, and Limp Dick, wight?" Kwasi asks in confusion.

"Oh for FUCK SAKES!" Matt shouts in anger as he kicks some dirt away.

"Aside from 'Limp Dick', that's us." Hunter chuckled.

"Fuck Jaren, man! Fuck him!" Matt exclaims in anger.

"Who's this friend?" Hunter asks.

"That'll be me." says a voice from the crowd, raising his hand in the air.

The person began moving his way through the crowd until he made his way to the front, revealing himself to be Jake. "Jake?" Bernard asks in disbelief.

"Ho-ly shit! You're alive?!" Hunter excitingly exclaims.

"I was never dead." Jake calmly replies.

"We thought you didn't make it out of Heaven's Gates." Bernard clarifies.

"Is uh… is Jaren still alive?" Matt asks.

"Yeah." Jake replies, not skipping a beat.

"Scheiße." Matt mumbled in disappointment as he walked away a bit.

"As eawtwawming as it is seeing you old fwiends weunite, we need to move befo' la'ka's come fwom the loud noise we made." Kwasi warns the group.

"How?" Hunter asks.

Kwasi smiled as he and the Berserkers all moved simultaneously, creating a path so the four could see the transport they all arrived in. Behind the Berserkers was a line of military jeeps all parked behind each other on the street in front of the construction site. The four survivors all raised their eyebrows, impressed that they managed to get their hands on durable and reliable vehicles.

"Where did you say you guys were from again?" Matt asks.

* * *

**Fort Mike Hawk, somewhere in North Carolina…**

"Welcome to Fo't Mike awk." Kwasi greets the new members into the old military bases. Matt stifled a laugh. "We've been ozing this base as oa' own since the stawt of the apocalypse. Most of us wa' pawt of the militawy while some wa' scavenga's that got wescued, like myself. It comes in andy seeing ow this ozed to be a militawy base, so as you can see that we'we neva' sho't on weapons o' twanspo'tation. We ave multiple gawdens awound the aisstwip that we oze to gwow oa' food."

"This place… It's-"

"Amazing." Hunter cut Camryn off.

"Oh yeah. Ooh. Ahh. That's how it always starts. But then later there's running and then… screaming." Matt mumbles as he too takes a look around.

"How many people are here?" Bernard asks.

"Last time I took count, about 600." Kwasi replies.

Bernard whistled, impressed by the numbers. "That's almost as much as the Black Conquest." Matt comments.

"Awe they like a baseball team?" Kwasi asks.

Matt stared at Kwasi with a blank expression. "Yes. They are _exactly_ that." Matt sarcastically replies.

"I ozed to like baseball. My fav'ite team wa' the Laka's." Kwasi comments.

Matt had to use all of his strength and will power in order to not sigh in utter disbelief. He turned to Camryn and whispered in her ear. "I can't tell if he's not from here or he's just mentally impaired." he whispered.

"He's not from here… I think. By the way, who are the Black Conquest?" Camryn asks.

"Former group I was with." Matt answers back.

"I wonder how Kobe is doing in this new world." Bernard wonders.

"Probably dead in some copter crash. Look, is there a leader we can speak to? The last time we got invited to a 'heavenly' place like this, the leader turned out to be a notorious dick wad and I have the scars to prove it." Matt says.

"Oh, you mean Ja'zy?" Kwasi asks.

"That- That's a state." Matt stammers in confusion.

"No. Ja'zy with a Z. e's the leada' of the Bessa'ka's." Kwasi replies.

Matt leaned into Camryn's ear once more. "This guy knows about New Jersey but he doesn't know about sports?" he whispers.

Camryn simply shrugged in response. "Jake, why don't you take them to im. I ave to go check my flowa'bed and see ow my petunias a' doing." Kwasi says, pointing to a flowerbed by the airstrip.

The group turned to where he was pointing, seeing the flowerbed by the airstrip with nothing but dead flowers in it. They were in silence, not wanting to, or even knowing how, to respond to Kwasi's naive attitude.

"They're really blooming." Matt sarcastically says.

"Come on," Jake says as he starts to lead the group. "Jerzy is in the control tower so you can talk to him there."

Jake led the four four survivors towards the control tower as Kwasi walked over to his petunias, where he began to caress the dead petals. One of the petals fell into the dirt below, though Kwasi appeared to either not have noticed or didn't care. Most likely the former.

"He does realize that his flowers are _dead_ right?" Matt asks Jake.

"Just let him be him, kid. There's not much that makes people happy these days." Hunter replies.

"Fire makes me happy."

"Again, a pyromaniac." Camryn comments.

"So how do you know these guys, Jake? You two seem like old friends." Bernard questions.

"Heaven's Gates and the Berserkers have an alliance going on. Or, _had_ an alliance." Jake stated. "In the early days, we started the deal where we supply them food and they supply us weapons. I'm actually an original member of the Berserkers and was given permission to move from this base to Heaven's Gates as to keep things more tied. You know?"

"Yeah, and look where that got you. The entire Heaven's Gates community is extinct like my own bloodline." Matt says.

"Heaven's Gates wasn't really a 'fighting' community." Jake says. "More than 98% of the entire community didn't even know how to properly fight, so when the Timberwolves came, they were no match. That's why they leave the fighting to us Berserkers. Real professional fighters. And by 'professional', I mean complete lunatics. We rely on sheer force and power to get the job done. We mostly use shotguns or melee weapons like bats, crowbars, and all that. We may be psychotic but we're efficient."

"They don't sound too different than the Timberwolves. Both fighting tactics _and_ numbers." Bernard speaks up.

Matt silently took note of this comparison. "Do they know about… Horatio?" he asks.

"I told the leader everything." Jake responds. "He honestly never cared for that guy anyway and thought the whole 'cure' act was bullshit either way."

"Why are they called the Berserkers?" Hunter asks as they near the control tower.

Jake opened the door and turned around to face the former ghost hunter. "Because they're berserk." Jake simply replied.

The four of them all turned to each other in confusion before entering the building. As soon as they entered the control tower, they immediately saw Berserkers left and right, all wearing some sort of red clothing and/or white tribal face paint.

"Hey, Jake. These the new guys?" asks a Berserker.

"Friends of mine that we rescued. Had their asses cornered by walkers at the construction site. Is Jerzy around?" Jake replies.

"He's on the top floor, playing golf." the Berserker responded.

"Playing golf? What the hell?" Matt asks.

"Hey… Hey! Why does that scrawny guy have a fetish toy strapped to him?" asks another Berserker.

"Don't call Barleycorn a fetish toy! He is my companion! My best man at my wedding! My partner in crime. Ain't that right, Barleycorn?" Matt asks the stuffed animal. Yet again, it said nothing. "Barleycorn says yes."

A Berserker turned to another Berserker and twirled his finger near his temple, making the "cuckoo" gesture. Jake pressed the button on the elevator and the doors soon opened.

"I'll be damned! Elevator is still workin'!" Bernard cheered.

"Remember the last time we got in an elevator? Fun times. Great times." Matt replies in a snarky tone.

"Ah, shut up, Matt."

"The base has its own generators that can run this place for up to 10 years. We have no need for fuel." Jake explains.

"And what happens after the 10 years are up? Did you think about that?" Matt asks as he and the other three enter the elevator.

"We'll discuss that when 5 years pass."

The elevator doors closed as it began to slowly go up the many floors of the control tower; inside the elevator, the five survivors all stood awkwardly closely next to each other as the elevator music continued to play in the speakers. Hunter sniffed as Bernard cleared his throat while Camryn blew out some air as she balanced herself on her heels and toes. Jake started to silently whistle to himself as he and along with everyone else in the elevator, were all very uncomfortable with the awkward silence.

It wasn't until Matt started to click his tongue that gradually started to become beat boxing. The long haired teen began to beatbox inside the elevator, spitting out some sick beats. The other four started to eye Matt as he continued to beatbox in the elevator with them. To them, he seemed to be completely unaware of their presence as he began to make more hyper movements in the elevator, making the situation more awkward.

"We like the legion of doom. Leaning to the side while the track go boom. Boom, boom. When we pull up to the club it go- Boom, boom. When we rolling down the block it go- Boom, boom. If I take it out my belt it go- Boom, boom. Boom, boom. Boom, boom!" Matt sang in the elevator.

Hunter groaned in annoyance, disappointment, and other negative emotions as he massaged the ridge of his nose, feeling embarrassed about his friend's childish antics. The elevator dinged, indicating that their floor arrived, before the doors opened. Jake led the four out of the elevator and up the stairs.

In the control room of the control tower was an overweight man with short curly brown hair and small oval glasses. The man had a warm smile on his face as he aimed his putter at the golf ball before tapping it. The ball rolled over into the cup, prompting the man to grow a large smile as he raised his golf club in the air.

"Hole in one, baby! That's what I'm talking about!" the man exclaims.

"Jerzy." Jake suddenly called out from behind, scaring the man. "We got new guests."

"Oh my goodness. Jake, you scared me. Don't sneak up on me like that. I could've whacked you with my golf club." Jerzy says.

"Sorry, boss." Jake apologizes.

"So, who are these guys?"

Jake turned to the four as he began to introduce them. "The old looking fella is named Bernard."

"Hi."

"The redhead in the goatee is Hunter Spector."

"Salutations."

"The girl is Camryn."

"Pleased to meet you."

"And the scrawny guy with the pink elephant strapped to his chest is Matt."

"Does anyone have a tissue? My nose is bleeding."

"Guys, this is Jerzy Tedesco. Leader of the Berserkers." Jake introduces.

The attire that Jerzy was wearing was a red and black zipped up cargo vest, black cargo pants with mahogany tactical boots.

"Pleased to meet you, folks." Jerzy greets. "So what brings you guys here?"

"We were rescued from a construction site after escaping another community taken over by Pirates." Matt casually explained.

"Pirates?"

"Well, they're called Timberwolves but I call them Pirates."

"No you don't! This is literally the first time you've called them that!" Hunter called him out.

"Shut up, Hunter."

"Timberwolves? Oooh." Jerzy groaned in annoyance.

"What? What is it?" Hunter asks.

Jerzy leaned his golf club against the wall as he leaned against one of the desks. "We've been having trouble with the Timberwolves lately." he says. "We managed to make a deal with them a long time ago to get them off our back. We supply them weapons in exchange for food. Now that winter is already here, having a garden has become difficult work but because they have a greenhouse, it's basically no problem for them."

"Where does the problem come in?" Bernard asks.

Jerzy sighed as he slapped the desk with his hand. "Lately, they've been demanding more weapons. They've almost had our stockpile cleaned dry." Jerzy explained.

"We maaaay have been the start of that problem." Hunter cautiously says.

"Hey, let's not jump to conclusions, Hunter. They could be talking about someone else." Matt says.

"They keep mentioning someone named Cinderella." Jerzy adds.

"Nevermind. It's us." Matt says without skipping a beat.

"How long has this been going on?" Camryn asks.

"About a week or so." the Berserker leader responds.

"I apologize for all the trouble we brought onto you, sir." Bernard apologizes.

"It's not your fault. You didn't know. What's done is done. Although they are looking for you. Whoever one of you is Cinderella." Jerzy says.

"Take a guess." Hunter says as he and the other four turn to Matt.

Matt flipped them off immediately, feeling betrayed by them. "You're welcome to stay here if you want but you would need to pull your own weight." Jerzy says.

"Do we need to wear red?" Matt asks.

Jerzy sat there in silence, not giving an answer for at least five seconds before finally speaking. "Yes." he meekly says.

The whole group groaned as Matt threw his arm in the air as he began to walk away. "I don't like red. It doesn't look good on me." Camryn says.

Matt then came back into view. "You're literally wearing red right now you hypocritical fuck!" he exclaims.

"Jake, can you show them to their sleeping quarters and assign them their new clothes? I got a game to play here." Jerzy says as he picks up his golf club.

"Sure thing, boss." he says. He turned to the group. "Come on, guys. Let's go."

"If I have to sleep in a hammock, I'm gonna kick you in the face." Matt threatens as the five walk out of the room.

* * *

The five survivors walk out of the control tower and back onto the military base grounds, with Jake leading them to their sleeping quarters.

"So Jake," Hunter spoke up. "you said the others were here, didn't you?"

"Oh, right. The other two are at the sleeping quarters, getting some rest." Jake says.

"Other two?" Hunter asks.

"Weren't there four of you guys?" Camryn questions.

Jake suddenly grew a slight sad expression as he prepared himself to give the bad news. "Joe was… He was taken… by the Timberwolves." he explains.

The four of the survivors all had mixed reactions, though were all similar all together. Camryn cupped her mouth as she gasped, Hunter shook his head in sorrow, Bernard looked up in the air as he placed his hands on his head, and Matt looked down before walking away.

"We tried to fight them but we didn't have any weapons." Jake started to explain. "The girl was an excellent fighter. She took down Jaren and dislocated his arm in a matter of seconds. Louis ran off like a pussy, and I knew I couldn't fight her. But it's not her that I was scared of… It was the other one."

"Other one?" Camryn asks.

"How many were there exactly?" Matt also asks.

"Just the girl and the one in the rabbit mask." Jake says. "That one… he didn't say a word. He kept using a cassette tape to communicate… I've encountered weird people ever since this whole pandemic started but that masked thing… It scares me. The girl called him 'Chatterbox'. Ironic name yet so fitting."

"And they took Joe?" Bernard asks.

"He was the only one of us that was actually injured. They would've gotten all of us but walkers came out of nowhere and surrounded us so we had to make a break for it. Joe was just unlucky." Jake explains.

"Poor Joe." Camryn whispers.

"Joe… never hurt anyone." Bernard says, audible anger in his voice.

Matt nodded his head, silently thinking of something. "They'll pay." he suddenly declares. "The Timberwolves. They'll pay. They messed with us for far too long and now we're actually going to fight back."

"But how?" Hunter asks. "I want them dead too but I don't see a way to get them back."

"I don't know but we'll think of something." Matt says assertively.

Right at that moment, they arrived at barracks where the many Berserkers used to sleep and rest. "Here we are." Jake says. "The top floors are all available so pick any room you want. You can even share a room if you want to."

"Thanks Jake." Bernard thanked the survivor.

"Jerzy will be with you guys soon. He likes getting to know new arrivals so they can feel they're at home and that they're safe." Jake explained.

"God blessed that man."

"I'll see you around guys." Jake says, walking away.

The four survivors all walked inside the barracks and began walking up the stairs up to the top floor. As soon as they walked into the top floor, they spotted a familiar face standing in the hallway.

"Louis?" Bernard calls out.

Sure enough, Louis was standing in the hallway when he heard his name, prompting to turn with a smile on his face. "Guys!" he greets as he approaches them. He gave each of them a hug. "I'm glad you guys made it. How are you doing?"

"Aches and pains, man. Aches and pains." Matt responds.

"We heard about Joe." Camryn says.

And just like that, Louis' happy expression left him, like his family. "Yeah, I know. It sucks." he says in a sad tone.

"Timberwolves… pieces of shit." Hunter grumbles.

"Yeah, well… There's really nothing we can do about it." Louis says.

"We heard there were two Timberwolves. A girl and a guy in a rabbit mask." Camryn suddenly speaks up.

"I don't even know they _are_ people. They could be anything under that mask." Louis says in a slightly scared tone as he shook his head.

"Hey, is Jaren…" Matt lingered on.

"Yeah, he's here. He's on the second floor."

"Is he still… ya know?"

"He kept going on and on about ways of murdering you if that's what you're saying."

"I heard the top floor was all available. What're you doing up here?" Bernard asks.

"There are some rooms up here that are taken. Mine so happens to be at the very end along with some other Berserkers. Speaking of which, I need to head over to the armory to get my clothes. Apparently they love the color red." Louis started to walk towards the stairs. "I'll see you around, guys. I'm gonna go see Jake before heading to the armory."

The group remained in silence before Matt spoke up. "I just realized his name is Louis." he says.

"I'm gonna go take a room and lie down. I need my rest." Bernard says as he enters a room.

"Yeah, you better get your beauty sleep, old man! Hahaha!" Matt's chortle was suddenly cut off when a pillow was thrown at him. "AH!"

The door slammed shut afterwards as Hunter walked to the room next to it. "I'm gonna go lie down too. I'm tired." he says as he closes the door.

Right at that moment, a young man with wavy brown hair with a tuft that partly covered his eye, a prominent chin came walking by as he stepped on the pillow that was thrown at Matt. He bent down and kneeled on one knee before picking up the pillow while looking up at Camryn.

"Miss," the man says in a British accent. "I believe you dropped your pillow."

The man moved his head as his hair waved in the wind as he stared at Camryn with the most loveliest smile ever. Camryn, however, seemed unaffected by this. "That's not mine but thanks anyways." she says, walking away.

The man stood up and watched the Filipina walk away. "That's odd." he says. "She's the first girl to not go 'ba-ba-ba' whenever they look at me." He turned to face Matt, whom was giving him an unamused look. "Is this your pillow?"

"Can you fuck off, please?" Matt asks politely yet harshly.

"My apologies." the man says as he walks away.

Matt groaned as he walked into a random room, throwing the pillow on the bed; he sighed as he fell on top of the bed, closing his eyes as he started to rest up. Right at that moment, he heard the bed squeak as it shook, prompting him to open his eyes and turn to the side. There, he saw Camryn looking up at the ceiling with a concentrated expression on her face.

"What're you doing?" he asks.

"Jake said we could share a room so I'm sharing one with you." she casually says.

Matt stared at her with a look mixed with utter confusion, annoyance, and disbelief. "Get the fuck outta my room!"

"Nope."

Matt stayed silent before going back to looking at the ceiling. "Well, I tried all I could do." he lazily says. The two remained silent as they stared up at the ceiling, pondering hard on the situation. "Why'd you leave the Timberwolves again?" Matt suddenly asks.

"Too barbaric for me." Camryn replies. "I can't deal with a community with savages with no order or control whatsoever. They all worship Cyrus and see him as their savior or something… It scares me."

"You know, back when I was tortured by Murrdock, he kept asking me the same question over and over again… 'Who are you?'. He was expecting me to reply with 'Cyrus.', but I never did… Who are you?" Matt asks.

"Camryn McCalski." Camryn replies.

"That's good to hear."

Silence loomed over them yet again. "What _did_ happened with you and Melony?" she asks.

"I told you. She couldn't take it anymore. So she… off'd herself." Matt responded.

Silence.

"Do you miss her?"

Silence again.

"Of course I do. Believe it or not, underneath this hard exterior, I actually have feelings and have a soft side."

"You? With a soft side? The same guy who happens to know that brains and blood washes easily rather than sewage?" Camryn teases.

"I had a tough life, alright?"

"You never did tell me about your life."

"You really wanna know? It's not a really happy tale."

Camryn shifted on the bed so that she was now facing him, lying on her side. "Yeah… I'm sure." she reassures.

Matt continued to avoid eye contact as he kept staring at the ceiling. He blew a sigh as he prepared himself for the story he was about to tell.

"I was born in Germany. Heidelberg specifically." Matt begins to tell. "Back then, I wasn't known as Matilda Dillon. Christoff… Just… Just Christoff… I never knew my biological parents. They could be dead or alive but I don't really care to be honest. I grew up in an orphanage called St. Marie's, with other children there too. Some older, some younger than me… I didn't really make that many friends when I was living there. I saw one of the nuns as a mother figure, but that's just about as close as I get to a family figure… I stayed there for 8 years until I was adopted by one Steven Dillon and his wife, Gina Dillon… When the day arrived, I didn't want to leave because I was scared… Do you know what the nun said to me?" he asks, finally facing the Filipina girl lying next to him.

"What?" she asks.

Matt went back to looking up at the ceiling. "She said to me… 'I will never give you to a bad home mein Kind.'." he quotes. "Do you know what happened?" Camryn shook her head. "I went to a bad home… After that, they changed my name to Matilda because they wanted a girl, but the last girl was actually adopted a month before my adoption. They only picked me because I looked 'feminine'. They wanted a perfect family. They already had a son named Derek, and now they wanted a daughter but they got me instead… So we moved to America and lived in Georgia for the remainder of my life. I slowly grew out of my German accent and started to learn English. That's why I have a sort of German-Southern accent… Life was complicated. My father abused me, I was tormented and bullied by my brother, and my mother was a drunkard. I used to sleep in the basement if I didn't do something right… My dad even… he even…" he shuddered as memories poured into his head. "Violated me."

Camryn grew a disturbed yet sympathetic expression on her face as she watched her friend spill a few tears. She grabbed his hand and wrapped it around hers to try and comfort him.

"You don't have to continue if you don't want to." she says.

"No. I-... I want to." Matt assures her. After taking in a deep, shaky breath, he continued on with his tale. "A year after I moved to America, my father brought home a kitten. Looked to be about a month old. He told me, 'Take care of this kitten.' and for once, I felt happy since moving. I took care of the kitten and fostered it and saw it as my own child… I loved the thing… But then… but then one day my father gave me a knife. He told me, 'Kill it.'. I say to him, 'What?', completely horrified as to why he would ask me that. Turns out it was all a test to see if I was fit to be apart of their family. He said he would kick me out if I didn't kill the kitten that I raised for two months… It wasn't even a year old and I was scared. I was 9!... So I… I took the knife… and… and slit it's throat." Camryn's eyes began watering as Matt started to silently cry now. "I watched the poor animal die in my hands… I killed… my own surrogate child… Afterwards, my dad said, 'I'm proud of you.'... That was the first and only time he ever said that to me…"

"Matt, I'm so sorry." Camryn sympathetically apologizes with tears in her eyes.

Taking another deep breath, Matt continued with the story. "Shortly afterwards," Matt continues. "I joined a neighborhood street gang called the Blazers. I was part of the Atlanta Hills set. There, I met two… really… odd friends. One was constantly calling me a buster, which ironically he was a buster, and the other was incredibly loyal to the gang. We mostly hung around the neighborhood, smoking pot or dealing drugs. We did steal firearms from the rival gang one time and that got one of the homies killed… Anyway, I was in that gang up until the day of the apocalypse happened. The whole city was in turmoil and chaos and my family died while I was the only one to escape. I tried to reach out for my two friends but they never answered. I assume they died. I made my way to an elevator evac where they took me to Fort Benning. I don't know when but the whole base got overrun as me and some other survivors got trapped in one of the bunkers… One of the survivors went crazy and was fueled on paranoia and started killing everyone. I wasn't ready to die so I…" Matt gulped. "I killed him."

Camryn continued to listen to him as he stayed silent for a few moments before picking off where he left.

"It wasn't a kill fueled by bloodlust." Matt says. "It was a fight or flight situation. I either kill or be killed… So I killed… That was the very first time I escaped the chaos… At this point, I realized one thing… there was no escape from this harsh reality… After the base, I joined some… questionable groups where I… I saw _and_ did the most terrible acts on mankind that humanity is capable of."

Right at that moment, several flashbacks flashed in front of his eyes, reminding him of his cursed past. Some flashbacks mostly included him doing these horrific acts on innocent survivors such as:

Cutting out the tongues and amputating the hands of children.

Shooting a line of tied up survivors with their faces against the wall.

Hanging a man from a tree.

Decapitating a young woman.

Kicking a cinder block that was tied to a man's ankles into a lake, forcing the survivor to fall to the water where he would drown.

Slitting the throats of the children and elderly.

Being forced to rape young female survivors, some younger than him.

Executing innocent survivors of all ages.

Throwing corpses into a deep hole.

Beating a survivor to death with the butt of his gun.

The flashbacks ended as Matt had a traumatized expression on his face, obviously horrified that the memories poured into his mind. He took in a deep shaky breath as his lower jaw trembled, trying to compose himself and bring himself back into reality. After blowing a shaky breath through the slip of his lips, Matt snapped back into reality as he shook his head, ready to continue with his story.

"I killed so many people that I lost count." he says. "At first, I felt sick at what I did. Which is good, right? I killed so many innocent people that I… I would have nightmares. Even _after_ I met Hunter. I watched this boy get eaten alive in front of me by walkers and I had a vision from the past. I was terrified… But… But after a while, after I kept killing people… The killing it… It feels right… It feels… Fun."

Camryn sat up as she looked at Matt, a horrified expression on her face of what he just said. "Are you alright?" she asks, genuinely concerned for his mental health.

Matt snapped his head to Camryn, giving her an empty expression that showed no emotion underneath. "Yeah… Yeah, I'm alright." he reassures her.

Right at that moment, Jerzy knocked on the already open door, startling the two as they snapped their heads to the door. "Oh, I'm sorry." Jerzy apologizes, realizing he scared them. "I didn't want to rudely interrupt your talk."

"It's fine." Matt reassures, sitting up. "You need something?"

Jerzy walked into the room as he took a seat at the desk. "I just want to talk to you guys, is all." Jerzy responds. "I like getting to know new recruits so that way they won't feel intimidated by me. I treat everyone here with the utmost respect and I see them as a family."

"That's a real nice speech about family there, Tedesco." Matt says.

"So…" Jerzy adjusted himself in his seat. "how are you two today?" The two remained silent as they awkwardly looked at each other, not knowing how to properly respond. "That bad, huh?" Jerzy asks. "Tell you what." he suddenly flipped his chair to the other side so that he was sitting in it backwards. "I'll tell you my story and you can tell me yours if you want to. Sound good?"

Matt shrugged.

"Alright, so uh, the beginning. Um…" Jerzy was silent for a moment before continuing. "I was a police commissioner in Tennessee when all this happened. Nashville, to be precise. When everything went to hell, I lost my mom, my dad, my little brother, but I knew they never truly left me. I knew they would always be with me as long as I keep fighting. So, I formed the Berserkers. A group of warriors that will fight to the death. It's how I honor my family."

"By slaughtering walkers?" Camryn asks.

"We are warriors after all." Jerzy says. "We even have our own anthem whenever we march into territory to take over. In fact, we've been eyeing Greensboro for a while now but we never had the proper time to take over the city what with these deals with the Timberwolves."

"Greensboro?" Matt asks.

"Yeah. That's right."

"You don't want to go there."

Jerzy cocked an eyebrow. "Why? Why not?" he asks.

Matt shifted himself so that his legs were now dangling over the edge of the bed. "That place, it's just… It's lost, man." he says. "The whole city is infested with walkers, and we're not talking about normal walkers. We're talking about _running_ walkers. _Slashing, thrashing _walkers. They're like… they're super walkers if you can call them that. They're more aggressive and they seem to work in a group or something. They ambushed me and Hunter when we were in the city about a week ago. Barely made it out alive."

"That's right. I heard rumors about Greensboro being a no safe area dubbed by survivors around N.C. but, I never really saw it myself." Camryn says.

"You don't want to go there. It's horrific."

"Damn." Jerzy spoke up. "I was hoping we could take over that city and use it as a second base."

Matt thought for a moment before speaking up. "Actually…" he says. "We _might_ be able to take it."

"What do you mean?" Camryn asks.

Matt turned to face her. "Think about it! These guys are warriors that will fight to the death. They're the perfect group to take on those super walkers." Matt reasons.

"As much as we would love to take over Greensboro, I'm afraid we can't." Jerzy declines.

"The Timberwolves?" Camryn asks.

Jerzy nodded his head. "And we don't just fight without cause." Jerzy reveals. "All the Timberwolves have done is just demand more guns. We're at the point where we're _making_ our own weapons. We specialize in spears now. Without a cause, we can't fight the Timberwolves, and we don't want to break the deal with them. We have a good thing going with them."

"'Good' and 'them' don't go together… 'Them' being the Timberwolves." Matt says.

"Yeah, I know." Jerzy interrupts.

Matt sighed in tiredness. "Look," he says. "we had a long day. I appreciate you trying to get to know us, and I like that, no, I _RESPECT_ that. But we just need some time to ourselves alright… and not in the sexual way."

Camryn blushed fiercely as soon as she said them; Jerzy, meanwhile, nodded his head. "I understand." he says. "Seeing how you're new here, I'll give you and your friends the rest of the day for you to rest. So get lots of sleep. I'm sure you've been wanting to sleep for a long time." Jerzy then stood up from his chair as he walked over to the door. "I'm gonna go talk to your other two friends if that's alright with you."

"We don't mind." Camryn says.

"Yeah. Go ahead." Matt allows.

"Get some rest you two." he says. He went to close the door before opening it back up again, backing up inside the room. "Oh, uh… We have a closed doors policy. So you're free to do _whateeever_ you want in here. Both sexual and nonsexual."

After flashing a teasing smirk, he closed the door, leaving the two teenagers alone in the room. Camryn had a massive blush on her face, feeling embarrassed as to what the Berserker leader just said, while Matt had a deadpan expression plastered on his face.

"Well," Camryn spoke up, after a moment of silence. "I guess we should get some rest, huh?"

Camryn suddenly heard snorting beside her, prompting her to turn to the side. There, she saw Matt snorting some more cocaine from his hand with the bag of cocaine in his other hand.

"Is that the same bag or a different one?!" she yells.

"Same one." Matt says in a strained voice as he sniffed.

"I thought I got rid of it!"

"I got it back."

"Those are drugs, Matt! That's cocaine! That's highly addictive! You don't need that!"

"Closed door policies." Matt then coughed, feeling his throat go numb.

Camryn shifted in her seat as she looked away. "Since you're already high, can I ask you something?" she asks.

"Why ask me something if I'm high on coke?" Matt's strenuous voice asks.

"You seem to be more philosophical and more… mature, when you're high." Camryn explains.

Matt didn't know whether he should feel insulted or complimented, as he felt conflicted at the moment. "Thank you?" he says in a questioned manner.

"I want you to be honest with me." she says in a serious tone. She then turned to Matt, giving him a concerned stare with her chocolate brown eyes. "Are you seriously alright?"

"Of course I'm alright. I mean, I'm high on coke and I have a few bruises and scars… and I can't really feel the left side of my face because of Murrdock. But other than that, yeah. I'm fine."

"Not physically." Camryn clarifies.

"Gee. Thanks for your concern." Matt sarcastically replies.

"I meant 'up here'." Camryn points to her temple.

Matt was silent for a few moments before speaking up. "Up here?" he repeats. "Am I okay? Up here? What? Do I think of dancing rainbows? No! I'm constantly in mental pain… reminded of my past or slowly deteriorating away. You know, there was a time in my life when I really thought it wouldn't get any better. I tried to kill myself once but I didn't have the balls to do it. But all that changed after I met the Blazers. In the gang, I felt like I had purpose. Before, I was abused by my family… But they didn't care." Matt suddenly stood up as he began to walk around. "You see the thing about families right, our FUCKING FAMILIES, they come and TORMENT you every time they get a chance. They don't care about you and are just using you for their own gain. So they constantly hurt me. I changed my appearance into a girl and started wearing jewelry and wearing nail polish just so I could get their respect because they wanted the _perfect_ family!... But it wasn't enough. Nooo. Nonononononononono. They always asked me, you know what they asked me, they asked me 'Matt. Matt. Matt. Who the FUCK ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE?! Are you a girl or a guy?! WE DON'T KNOOOOOOOOW!" Matt then chuckled a bit afterwards. "Hehehehe. They have the AUDACITY to think that I need to be part of their perfect fucking family. Aaah."

Matt began panting after his rant as he turned to Camryn; to his realization, she had a disturbed and scared expression on her face. He saw that she backed up a few inches away while he was yelling and shouting in rage. Realizing that he scared the poor girl, he threw the bag of coke on the bed sheets as he blew a breath of air.

"Sorry." he apologizes.

Camryn let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "You're in pain." she tells him.

"You don't think I don't know that?" Matt asks above a whisper as he sits back down.

"You don't have to do this alone you know." she says, rubbing her hand on his knee to comfort him.

"Really?" he asks in an annoyed tone. "Because all it seems I've been doing all my life is doing '_thiiiiis_' on my own! I GOT NOTHING! NO ONE GIVES A FUCK ABOUT ME!" Matt shouts in utter rage as he slaps the bed.

Camryn retained her calm composure, polar opposite of her horrified expression not even a minute ago. "I do." she whispers.

Matt blew out a heavy sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair before standing up. "I'm gonna go get some air." he says as he walks out the room, leaving Camryn to herself.

* * *

Matt exited the room and closed the door, sniffing in some excess cocaine that was in his nostrils, which began to bother him. Because he was high on coke, he was stumbling a bit as he walked through the empty top floor halls. All of a sudden, he was forcefully pushed and pinned against the wall by none other than Jaren Simpson. Jaren had an extremely angry expression on his face as he pinned Matt to the wall, getting extremely close to his face as much as possible.

"Why'd you do it?!" he shouts. "Why did you kill my sister?!"

"Ich weiß nicht wovon du sprichst! (I don't know what you're talking about!)" Matt shouts in German.

Jaren put more pressure on him. "Answer me!" he shouts.

"Fahr zur Hölle! (Go to Hell!)" Matt shouts back.

"Melony did NOTHING to you and you killed her!"

"I didn't kill her, you dummkopf!" Matt shouts.

"Lies!"

Jaren suddenly released his grip, momentarily freeing Matt, before punching him in the face, sending him to the ground. Matt spat some blood on the floor as he looked up at Jaren, an angry expression on his face.

"I cared about your sister, Jaren. Why would I kill her?" he asks.

"You tell me." Jaren replies with anger in his voice.

"I didn't… you miserable cunt." Matt spat out. "She was my friend and I watched her die in front of me. I would never kill someone who never wronged me. It's not right."

"Bullshit. I saw you. You were holding the blade when she fell. YOU KILLED MY SISTER!"

Matt quickly stood up. "I DIDN'T!" he shouts.

Jaren suddenly pushed him to the wall before grabbing his pistol, planting it right on top of Matt's forehead.

"Give me the truth, dipshit. I want to know the reason why you killed my sister." Jaren hissed out.

Matt began chuckling as he stared into Jaren's eyes. "You really think I'm scared of a gun?" he asks. "I've tried to kill myself more times than you've killed walkers."

"Just tell me why you killed my sister." Jaren says with audible rage.

"Alright then." Matt agrees. "She owed me twenty bucks."

Jaren reacted by smacking Matt's head with the butt of his gun, sending him to the ground. "Cut the bullshit, Matt! Tell me the truth!"

"I thought you wanted answers, Jaren." Matt replies, picking himself up again. "Look, I'm gonna be frank with you… I'm not in the right mindset."

"None of us are."

"I mean, I'm high off coke you asswipe. I can't really give a straight answer. Oh wait, yeah I can. I never killed her." Jaren suddenly pulled the hammer down and aimed it at Matt. "You won't kill me." he declares, having a calm expression. "You want answers from me. Killing me would only make you forever lose those answers."

Jaren continued to shoot Matt an expression of pure rage, realizing he was right. Matt smirked as he picked himself up, while Jaren moved his gun to forever point it at his head.

"You know what?" he asks. He suddenly grabbed the barrel of the gun and planted it to his own forehead. "Shoot me." Jaren's expression changed to shock. "C'mon, motherfucker. That's what you want, right? Shoot me… C'mon… It's fucking easy man. Just fucking pull the fucking trigger. C'mon, shoot me you motherfucker, let's go. SHOOT ME MOTHERFUCKER! PULL THE TRIGGER! LET'S GO SHOOT ME! SHOOT MEEEEEEEEEE!"

Jaren pulled the gun away and kicked Matt right in the chest, causing him to fall to the ground. Right at that moment, several doors opened as Camryn, Hunter, and Bernard peeked their heads outside of their respective rooms. Jerzy suddenly ran out of Bernard's room, seeing Matt on the ground with Jaren standing over him with a pistol in his hand.

"What's going on?!" Jerzy asks.

Jaren continued to look down at Matt, avoiding eye contact with the Berserker leader. "Nothing." he says, planting the gun back in his holster.

Jaren walked passed Matt as he walked down the stairs as the long haired teen picked himself up. "Matt. What happened?" Jerzy asks.

Matt dusted himself off as he looked into Jerzy's eyes; the Berserker leader took note of his most recent wounds. There was a gash on the side of his head and blood was trickling down his nose, most likely from the coke he snorted.

"Nothing just… Just some tension between us." he answers.

With that, Matt walked passed Jerzy and headed towards the stairs, still wanting some fresh air. All four survivors that he left in the top floor all looked at Matt walking away, all wondering what transpired a few moments ago. Camryn, however, seemed to be the most visibly worried.

* * *

Through the lenses of binoculars that stared at the barracks of the military base, one could see Matt stumbling out of the building, most likely suffering from his high on the addicting drug.

"I see him." says a female voice.

_~Excellent work.~_ says an automated female voice.

The person behind the binoculars could see Matt scratching his nose as blood trickled down his nostrils. They could see him rapidly waving his hand limply to throw away excess blood on his fingers. Afterwards, they saw him press one of his fingers on the side of his nose, closing one of his nostrils, before blowing away mucus and blood out of the other other nostril.

"I'm calling it in." the female voice says. The figure lowered their binoculars, revealing themselves to be Abigail, and next to her, her companion Chatterbox. "Cyrus," she calls after grabbing her radio. "we found him. He's at the military base that's infested with those red clothing freaks. Berserkers. We have a deal going on with them."

Silence was heard over the other side of the radio, before finally the Timberwolf leader spoke. _~Not for long.~_

* * *

In the midst of the night, the military base was silent as multiple guards guarded the community, taking the graveyard shift, while the rest of the inhabitants slept soundly in their beds.

In one of the rooms in the barracks, were Matt and Camryn, sleeping together in the same bed. While Camryn was fast asleep, facing away from her friend, Matt was having trouble sleeping. He tossed and turned before opening his eyes and sitting up; however, his environment was critically different. For one, Camryn wasn't beside him, and another, the whole room looked torn to shreds. As he started to look everywhere to try and figure out what happened, he got up from the bed revealing his sleeping attire: baggy black shirt with boxers and socks.

After walking over to the closet and changing his clothes, he walked out of the room and into the hallway, seeing it deserted and run down. However, he instantly noticed that the hallway _wasn't_ the barrack's hallway. Instead, it appeared to be something different. After closing the door, Matt began to cautiously and hesitantly walk down the hallway, trying to figure out where he was. He looked at the doors, noticing how some of them were boarded up or were completely broken off its hinges.

He suddenly stepped on something, prompting him to look down; to his horror, he saw Hunter's corpse underneath him, with a bullet hole in his head and multiple bite marks on him. To his left, further down the hallway, he saw Bernard's corpse, slumped up against the wall with similar wounds. To Hunter's right and more closer to him, was Camryn's corpse, lying beside the wall with her face hidden.

"Hunter? Bernard?... Camryn?!" Matt shouts in utter horror.

Right at that moment, the ground began to crumble and crack as it started to give away. All of a sudden, the floor broke as Matt began falling down a deep abyss filled with nothing but the pitch black void. At the very bottom was a red-orange light that appeared to be fire, getting closer and closer as he fell down the dark abyss. It was as if he was falling through eh depths of Hell itself.

"AAAAAAAAH! OH OOOOOH! W- AH! WAH! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"

Matt's screams were cut off as he fell into the fire down below as his vision went black.

He suddenly gasped as he opened his eyes before looking forward, instantly seeing a pile of corpses in front of him. He began backing up, horrified that he woke up near a whole grave of bloodied and long dead bodies.

"Oh fuck! Oh f-... Holy fuck!" he stammered as he backed up rapidly.

After hitting a wall, he wasted no time to grab onto a handle attached to the wall, picking himself up. He looked at his hands, which were bloodied and cut for some reason, before looking back up. He began to look all around, seeing himself to be in some sort of empty void filled with nothingness. There was a pathway that appeared to be made entirely out of corpses.

"Shit." Matt gasped as he looked at the soles of his shoes, noticing blood and flesh on them. "Where the fuck am I?"

Realizing that this was the only path, he began to cautiously and hesitantly walk on the pathway of corpses. At first, he went slow, still creeped out by the amount of bodies underneath him. Each time he took a step, he could hear the sounds of flesh being stepped on along with blood being splashed. Eventually, he sped up his pace, getting tired of walking so slowly and wanted to get the hell out of this nightmare as fast as possible.

Right at that moment, flames shot up to his left side as two people appeared after the flames died down: Murrdock and Matt himself. The scene itself was the exact same scene when Matt was getting tortured by Murrdock, whom was enjoying every second of it.

_"Humans are so weak. They're so pathetic. They let emotions get in the way of their potential. They could be so much more yet they stop themselves for mere emotions."_ Murrdock could be heard saying.

They both suddenly disappeared as Matt continued to walk down the corpse filled path before another set of flames shot up again. This time, to the right of him; instead of Murrdock and Matt this time, it was now Horatio and Matt. This time, the setting was inside Horatio's office back in the Heaven's Gates community.

"_If God was real, then why did he do this to us?!"_ Horatio shouted.

And just before, they both disappeared while Matt continued to walk down the path; just like before, a set of flames burst out of the ground to the left of him. Two figures suddenly appeared afterwards, which was Matt himself, whom was lying on the ground, and Jericho, whom was standing over him.

_"You mess with the wolf, you get the fangs."_ Jericho's voice says.

The two of them suddenly disappeared as Matt kept walking down the path. On the right side, a new set of flames shot up from the ground. However, instead of two people, there was just one: Cyrus Wolfe, the Timberwolf leader. Cyrus was seen on top of who appeared to be Jaren, lowering a rapidly spinning drill towards his face.

_"You are me, and I am you."_ Cyrus' voice echoed throughout the area.

However, unlike list time, Cyrus' body suddenly turned to static, still retaining his outline, as he suddenly turned to Matt. Now this time, the illusion was of Matt himself, who finally jabbed the drill into Jaren's eye, splattering blood on his shirt and face. Matt, horrified at how Cyrus turned entirely into himself, backed up, before the illusion turned back to Cyrus himself before it disappeared. He shook his head, still shocked at the hallucination before him, before continuing down the path.

As he continued to walk down the path, he soon came across what appeared to be stairs made out of corpses. Seeing no other way, he walked up the short stairs and walked onto a platform. There, he saw the strange man he saw yesterday in his hallucination in the toy store, simply sitting in a chair. The man was smiling at him as he was leaning forward with his fingers crossed in each other, as if he was waiting for him.

"Are you enjoying this little dream of yours?" the man asks. "You know, you haven't changed those predictions yet. And if I'm gonna be honest with you… you can never change them. They're forever set in stone for your future."

Matt glared at the man before him. "Fuck you." he shakily responds.

"You are angry, Matt." he tells him. "I get that. Really, I do. I've been in your situation before. The EXACT situation… Have you figured out who those four people are yet?"

Matt was silent for a moment before answering. "Giovanni Murrdock. Horatio Stanford. Jericho… and Cyrus Wolfe. The Sadist. The Liar. The Psychopath… and the Leader respectively."

"Right as rain." the man confirms with a smile.

"How have those people affected me?" Matt asks.

"The Sadist has forever changed your appearance, leaving those scars will forever remind you of who you became. The Liar made you untrustworthy of new faces, no longer viewing anyone as innocent. The Psychopath has made you completely immune to other people's pain, making you careless when it comes to hurting other people. And the Leader… The Leader is your future." the man says.

"You know what?" Matt asks, now getting angry at the man. He suddenly reached into his back pocket and whipped out his Beretta M9, aiming it at the man in a diagonal way. "I've had it with your cryptic messages!"

"Aww. Come on. You're being ridiculous. Just stop this nonsense." the man says with a smile.

"Not today, asshole." Matt retorts. "I've only met you once and I _still_ don't know who you are! I don't know if you're some figment in my demented imagination and my shattered mind or if this is all just some fever dream or some shit. But I've had it with you." Matt suddenly brought the hammer down from the gun. "Time to die, asshole."

"Not today, Matty. You see. You're hallucinating." the man replies with a smile.

"Huh?" Matt asks. All of a sudden, the man wasn't there anymore, and Matt didn't even notice that he was gone until several seconds later on. "What?!" he shouts as he begins looking around.

Unfortunately for him, he only saw just the black empty void all around him, still surrounding him. Right at that moment, a walker suddenly came up behind him, growling in his face. Matt screamed as the walker knocked the gun out of his hand before placing its hands on his shoulders. The walker began biting it's jaws, wanting to get a taste of Matt's flesh, while the teen himself continued to scream.

* * *

Matt gasped as he sat up in his bed in a cold sweat, panting heavily as he began examining his area. To his relief, he was still in the barracks bedroom with Camryn sleeping beside him. As he panted, Camryn shifted in her sleep as she turned around to face him with sleepy eyes.

"Matt?" she asks in a tired voice. "What's going on?"

"Nothing… Nothing. Just… Just go back to bed." Matt says as he lays back down.

Camryn shifted as she quickly went back to sleep; Matt heavily sighed as he began staring up at the ceiling above, wondering about the dream he had and what it meant.

He didn't go back to bed until an hour later.

* * *

The next day, everything was fairly normal, even in the zombie apocalypse. The four survivors all woke up at separate yet close times and all got changed into their Berserker outfits. Matt, whom finished changing his outfit, was eating some breakfast that was given to him that day while examining his new clothes in the mirror.

Currently, Matt's outfit consisted of a black cargo vest with orange pockets, no shirt underneath revealing his abs and several scars and wounds. Down below, he also wore a pair of red cargo pants with the cuffs stuffed into some leather black military boots. He also sported a single red cloth armband wrapped around his left bicep arm, and another red cloth wristband wrapped around his right wrist. Finally, he sported a pair of red and black tactical gloves and a red headband wrapped around his forehead.

After chewing his breakfast, he reluctantly swallowed his food before groaning in disgust. "Everything tastes like crap without hot sauce." he says to himself.

Right at that moment, Camryn exited the closet wearing her own Berserker outfit. "How do I look?" she asks.

Matt turned around to look at her new clothing, noticing the type of clothing she was wearing. Of course, the main color was red; she was currently wearing a red sleeveless hoodie with body armor over it, black cargo pants with the cuffs stuffed inside her black leather military boots. She also sported a pair of red fingerless tactical gloves, a moss green bandana over her mouth and a pair of red lens ski goggles, up on her forehead.

Matt eyed her up and down, looking at her new threads. "You look kindaaaa- You know what. You look absolutely horrendous." he bluntly states.

Camryn shot him some lidded eyes. "Gee. Thanks." she sarcastically replies.

"Don't worry." Matt replies, throwing the rest of his breakfast into the trash. "We all look kind of wack in these clothes… Although I do like the color."

"Hey." Camryn suddenly says, grabbing his attention. "Can we talk about last night?"

"I told you! That boob touch was an accident!"

"Not that you idiot!" Camryn shouts, flustered at the memory.

"Oh."

"Did you have a nightmare?"

"I always have nightmares. I can never escape from them." Matt responds.

"What're they about?" Camryn asks.

Matt blew a breath as he sat down on the bed. "If I'm being honest… It's about losing." he replies in a serious tone.

"Losing?" she asks, sitting down next to him.

"Not losing as in losing a ball game or something." Matt clarifies. "Or not losing my life. Losing… losing who I am… I've… I've killed so many people in my life that I just… I jus-... I just don't feel… like… I'm human anymore… Sometimes I… I question who I am really. Ever since… since Murrdock and Cyrus, I've had trouble perceiving what was real and what wasn't. I had trouble telling myself from the rest of bandits in the woods. You now, Cyrus thinks me and him are the same. Not like the same kind of person, I mean… the _exact_ same person… I- dy-... I can't… I can't keep doing this. Jus… Jus… I don't know who I'm supposed to be."

Camryn placed her hand on his shoulder and began rubbing it. "You're Matt Dillon and that's who you'll _always_ be. Don't ever question yourself." she tells him.

Matt blew out some air through his nostrils. "Thank you." he whispers as he grabs her hand on his shoulder.

Camryn suddenly stood up. "We should probably get to work." she says. "We don't want to disappoint-" She felt a resistant force from her hand, realizing that Matt was still holding onto it. "Matt?"

Matt suddenly looked up before standing up, pulling her in a giant bear hug, embracing her tightly. Camryn, startled by the sudden gesture, stood there in shock before returning the hug, closing her eyes.

* * *

Jake led Matt into the armory of the Berserker base, leading him to his task for the day: loading ammo into guns. Jake opened the door as he and Matt entered the room, instantly spotting someone else in the armory. "Matt, meet the ammo wrangler of the Berserkers. Tyrone Nelson Tawson, or as we call him, TNT." Jake greets.

Matt looked at the Tyrone in front of him, noting his bulky appearance. Tyrone was a chubby and heavy African-American with a black mohawk and a full beard with a red headband around his forehead.. He sported a large, bulky set of armor that covered his entire chest, his neck, and his bicep arms. His forearms however were nakedly exposed as he sported a pair of fingerless black biker gloves as he had several red strings wrapped around his right wrist. Down below, he wore a pair of camo green cargo suspender pants with the cuffs tucked into some military boots.

"Aaaah. New blood." Tyrone greets in a deep voice.

Matt stared at Tyrone with wide eyes, obviously startled by the man's giant posture. "You can take my girlfriend." Matt says in a scared tone.

"Oh, don't worry about Tyrone here. He's a gentle giant." Jake reassures Matt.

Matt shot him a flabbergasted expression. "Really?! 'Cuz he looks like he can break my neck 5 different times!" he exclaims.

"You think you can give the 'new blood' the basics of loading in ammunition into a cartridge?" Jake asks.

"I know how to load bullets, dude. I did it at Heaven's Gates." Matt reminds him.

"It's about time I had company. I was getting lonely in here." Tyrone says with a smile.

"I better get back to Hunter and Camryn and show them to their stations. Have fun in here, gentlemen."

With that, Jake left Matt and Tyrone by themselves; while Tyrone was simply shooting Matt a warm, friendly smile, Matt was looking up at him with a scared expression. Tyrone, realizing that Matt was scared, lowered his smile as he grew an almost sad look. Finally, after a long awkward silence, Matt spoke up.

"How much can you lift?" Matt asks in a scared tone.

"About… 650 pounds." Tyrone responds after a moment of estimating.

"Oh God. You are… I am so scared right now. I can't even start my witty, sarcastic banter."

"I'm about maybe 400 pounds. 350 of it is pure muscle."

"You are a tank."

Tyrone shrugged. "I guess you can say that."

"No, not _guess,_ you ARE."

Tyrone smiled. "Thanks for the compliment." he says. "Come on. These magazines won't load themselves." Tyrone led Matt to the workshop table as the two grabbed some magazines and bullets. "So… Where are you from?" the large African-American asks.

"Georgia." Matt responds as he loaded in a bullet.

Tyrone nodded his head. "I'm from Nigeria myself." her replies.

"You don't sound Nigerian." Matt states, taking note of his VERY American accent.

"I was born there but raised in Seattle." Tyrone responds. "I was in South Carolina when all this started and made my way up here and eventually met the Berserkers."

"You have a green card?" Matt asks, setting down a full magazine.

"Of course." Tyrone confirms.

Matt, whom grabbed an empty mag, nodded his head. "I don't have one myself. I'm an illegal immigrant." he reveals.

Tyrone raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said you were from Georgia?" he questions.

"I was _in_ Georgia when all this happened." he clarifies. "I was actually born in Germany for 8 years before I got adopted and moved to the states. Lived in Georgia until this pandemic began. Never got my green card. Though, I guess it doesn't matter now."

Tyrone chuckled. "I guess not." he says, loading in a bullet. "But, how come your parents never got you a green card?"

Matt suddenly stopped loading in bullets, startled by the question, though he saw it coming a mile away once he mentioned he didn't have a green card. "They weren't really nice to me." he says in a venomous tone, continuing with his work.

Tyrone immediately understood what he meant. "Oh." he says, nodding his head. "You know.. I used to be apart of Child Services before all this, so… I can instantly tell a damaged child immediately. I won't lie, you kind of gave off those vibes when you first walked in."

Matt shot him a quizzical look. "How can you tell?" he asks.

"Your posture." he says. "_And_ your behavior. You were kind of reluctant to come in and you had an uncertain expression on your face."

"Blame that on my dad." Matt absentmindedly says.

"Abuser?" Tyrone hypothesizes.

Matt suddenly slammed the half loaded magazine on the counter, startling Tyrone, as he shot him a serious expression. "My dad made me foster a kitten, knowing full well I would fall in love with it, and made me kill it, threatening to throw me out of the house otherwise. 'Abuser' is kind of an understatement."

Tyrone let his words sink in, realizing how messed up his childhood really was. "I'm sorry to hear that." he says.

Matt sighed as he ran his fingers through his long hair, leaning back into his chair. "It's alright. I shouldn't have snapped." he apologizes. Afterwards, he grabbed the magazine and continued to load it with more bullets. "What about you? You have a family?"

"Nah." Tyrone responds. "I had a sister down here but she fell during the early days."

"No wife or kids?" Matt asks.

"Girlfriend, but we broke up a week before the pandemic." Tyrone reveals, setting the full magazine on the table.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be. She cheated on me." he says, grabbing an empty mag.

Matt's face scrunched. "Oh, that's fucked up." he states.

"Tell me about it." Tyrone responds. He heavily sighed afterwards, postponing his work. "I was hurt but I kept my cool. I didn't want to hurt her. Didn't want to stoop down to her level. So I just kicked her and her boyfriend out."

"Was her boyfriend…" Matt suddenly let the sentence hang. Tyrone, confused as to why he didn't finish his sentence, raised an eyebrow. "Was he… like… ya know… Was he… b-black?" Matt nervously asks.

Tyrone suddenly began laughing out loud, confusing Matt. "Oh, kid… Yeah, he was black. Really thin as well." he confirms with a smile.

"Why would she- I mean you- I really don't wanna make this seem so stereotypical with a somewhat… pornographic twist." Matt says.

"You're wondering why she cheated on the big black dude, huh?" he asks, with a smile. Matt didn't say anything, still nervous at the situation. "It's alright. I've learned to go with the stereotype. I take it as a joke now."

"It's still wrong of me. I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry." Matt apologizes, looking down.

"Don't worry about it. Just watch carefully next time, alright?" Tyrone asks.

Matt chuckled as he nodded his head at Tyrone. "I'm surprised you're not a dad." he says. "Would've made one hell of a good one."

"Shannon wasn't ready to tie the knot and now I know why." Tyrone chuckled.

Matt laughed as well as he and Tyrone simultaneously placed a magazine on the workshop table. "So how long have you been with the Berserkers?" he asks.

"About a year maybe." Tyrone responds. "I rose through the ranks to where I am now. Met a lot of nice people like Kwasi and Jerzy and Jake."

"Hey, is Kwasi kind of…"

"Naive? Yes. He's very naive. Makes me wonder how he became second in command of this group anyway."

"Pure luck, maybe?" Matt suggests.

Tyrone chortled in response. "Maybe." he says, loading in more bullets.

Matt continued to load in more bullets before a thought entered his head, prompting him to lay down the magazine. "T." he says. Tyrone hummed in response. "How can you… How can you tell who you are?"

Tyrone grew a confused look. "What do you mean?" he asks.

"Like… Do you know who you are? Like who you really are?" Matt asks.

Tyrone only got more confused. "I'm me." he says. "Is everything alright."

Matt looked like he spaced out before nodding his head, avoiding eye contact. "Yeah, it's just… I've been having trouble finding myself recently."

"Like you don't know what to do?" Tyrone asks.

Matt continued to look down at the ground, not looking into Tyrone's eyes. "Like I don't know who I am." he responds. "I've always had trouble trying to find myself. My parents wanted a girl but ended up with me since I looked the most 'feminine' out of the bunch of orphans. They even gave me a girl name. Matt isn't short for Matthew, it's short for Matilda. I wanted to get their respect so I began dressing like a girl but it… it was never enough… Then when the… when the pandemic started, I just got more lost. I killed so many people for dumb reasons that I lost count. I was just a teenaged gangster with an abusive family but now I'm a murderer. I don't… I don't know who I am anymore… I can f-... _FFFFEEL_… the anger inside me!… I can't… I gotta stop. I'm venting too much."

Tyrone simply stared at Matt with a shocked expression, never seeing so much hatred and mental instability come out of someone in front of him in his life.

Right at that moment, the door knocked before opening, revealing to be Jerzy on the other end. "How are you two doing?" he asks.

Tyrone turned to Matt, whom still had his head down while tightly clenching his fists, before turning back to his leader. "We're doing fine." he responds.

"That's good to hear." Jerzy says. "I'm just doing a check up around here before I go back to the greenhouse to do some work."

"Jerzy! Jerzy!" shouts a voice from behind.

Jerzy turned around to see a random Berserker soldier running up to him, panting up a storm. "What is it?" Jerzy asks.

The Berserker quickly caught his breath so he could inform his leader of the recent events. "He's here." he simply says.

"Who's here?" Jerzy asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Think!"

Jerzy thought for a moment before he widened his eyes, realizing what his soldier meant. "Shit. Shit! What is he doing here?! I thought we already made an exchange?!"

"What's going on?" Tyrone asks.

"Ah- D- Tsh- Jus' come with me! I don't know why he's here!"

With that, Jerzy and the Berserker left the scene. "Who's here?" Tyrone shouts.

"Just come!" Jerzy shouts.

Matt and Tyrone turned to each other, with Tyrone giving him a shrug, before they both ran out of the workshop. Outside, Matt saw Bernard, Hunter, and Camryn, whom were all in their respective Berserker clothes.

"What's going on?" Matt asks.

"I don't know." Hunter responds.

The group started walking toward the huge crowd of Berserkers near the front gates. They appeared to be talking to someone though because of the huge crowd, they couldn't tell who it was. Bernard, who happened to be the tallest, looked over one of the Berserker's shoulders and saw who they were talking to, growing wide eyes.

"Get down! Down!" he whispers as he and the four fall behind a barrier.

"What's going on?" Camryn asks.

"Who are they?" Hunter asks.

Bernard looked over the barrier before turning back to his friends. "Timberwolves." he says.

The other three all grew surprised expressions, with Matt having more of an angry expression rather than surprise.

"Jerzy." Cyrus greets with his Timberwolves behind him. "How's it going?"

"Cyrus." Jerzy greets with his own Berserkers behind him as well. "What're you doing here? I thought we already made a trade three days ago."

"We did. Thanks for the guns by the way. Unfortunately, we're not here for more guns… We're here for your new recruits." Cyrus says with a sly smile.

Camryn turned back to her friends. "He doesn't know we're on the run. He's gonna accidentally sell us out!" she loudly whispered to her comrades.

"Bernard and the others? Why do you need them?" Jerzy asks.

"You see," he began. "those four were originally ours before they found you, or you found them or whatever. They got lost in a supply run and we're just here to pick them up."

"Is that why you attacked Heaven's Gates?" Jerzy asks, audible anger in his voice

"Ah, so you heard?" Cyrus asks, his smile not backing down.

"Yeah, I heard. Terrible thing you did. They were defenseless and you murdered them!" Jerzy accuses.

"Last time I checked, defenseless means without a defense. Those useless asswipes had a ton of defense. They just didn't know how to properly use it. It's a dog eat dog world out here. Survival of the fittest. They just weren't fit to survive." Cyrus suddenly grew a serious, determined expression. "Hand over the new guys."

"You're not getting them. Not after Heaven's Gates. Besides. They're not here." Jerzy lied.

"I beg to differ." Cyrus argues. "You know, you're a terrible liar, Tedesco. You would lose in poker in an instant. Some say it's a game of chance, some say it's a game of bluff. Me? I say it's both." Hunter stuck his head out of the barrier to continue spying on the barbaric community members. "I'm not gonna ask again. Bring me the new guys."

"Hunter! What're you doing?!" Matt loudly whispers.

Hunter saw Cyrus turn his head towards him, prompting him to duck back down into cover, his heart racing over fear that he was caught.

"Fuck! Fuck!" Hunter whispered.

Cyrus continued to stare at the barrier with an all knowing smirk wiped across his face. He began chuckling to himself as he continued to stare at the barrier.

"Actually, I think I see them right now." Cyrus was heard saying.

"Hunter! Hunter, he saw us!" Camryn whispered.

"Where?" asks Abigail.

Cyrus pointed towards the barriers as she and the rest of the Timberwolves all turned towards the direction. Some Berserkers, sans Jerzy, even turned around to look at what they were staring at. Cyrus motioned one of his Timberwolves to give him a bullhorn that they brought, turning it on as soon as it was in his hands.

"Uuuum… I see you over there." he says in the bullhorn. Realizing that their cover was blown, Matt popped his head out of the barrier followed by the other three. There, he saw Cyrus smiling sinisterly at him. "Hi, Cinderella."

Jerzy turned around, staring wide eyed at his new recruits, whom all had scared expressions on their faces. Cyrus lowered the bullhorn as he grew a malicious expression, quickly grabbing his Desert Eagle and aiming it at Jerzy. There, he pulled the trigger, firing a bullet right into the base of Jerzy's neck, causing him to fall. All the Berserkers screamed as they watched their leader fall to the ground.

"Bring me, Cinderella!" shouts Cyrus.

All of a sudden, every Timberwolf began yelling as they started charging their way inside the base, with only Cyrus, Abigail, and Chatterbox being left behind. The Timberwolves began attacking the Berserkers as a bloody massacre suddenly started. No guns were even used on either side and both sides all clashed with either their fists or their melee weapons. One by one, a Timberwolf or a Berserker would fall to the ground dead. Matt and the others simply stared at the bloodbath happening in front of them with horror in their eyes.

Cyrus suddenly turned to Abigail, a toothy, malicious grin on his face. "I saw him when he was over there. He went like this with his head…" Cyrus suddenly ducked down and quickly pretended as if he was popping his head out of cover before standing back up. "Yeah? Fucking spotted him. Like a sniper. Come on." Cyrus motioned the two to leave the base. "We're heading back to the Wolf's Den. I'm gonna let my pups have their fun with their new chew toys. It's gonna be like a, uuuh… A battle royale. Come on. Let's go." Cyrus began jogging ahead, prompting Abigail and Chatterbox to jog as well. "Let's go, motherfuckers! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Get that blood pumping!"

A Berserker's corpse fell to the ground as a whole bloodbath continued to go on at the front gates of the Berserker base.

"Stop me, motherfucka! Stop me!" taunted a Timberwolf as slashed a Berserker's chest open.

A Berserker grabbed a Timberwolf by the neck and slammed him down onto the ground before unleashing a violent wave of punches to his face. However, another Timberwolf came from the side and stabbed the Berserker's back with a machete, seriously wounding him. Another Berserker grabbed that same Timberwolf in a headlock and brought him down onto the ground, both of them crashing onto the pavement.

Hunter suddenly turned to his friends. "We gotta do something." he declares.

"What?!" Camryn shouts in utter disbelief.

"They're getting killed because of us! It's not fair!"

"This whole world ain't fair, Hunter!" Matt countered.

"Kid," he says. "would you want to die if someone brought you trouble?"

Matt thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. "No." he answers.

"Then we fight." Hunter declares.

Matt peeked his head out of cover and witnessed the bloodbath in front of him, before going back into cover. "No, _I'll_ fight. You take these two to safety. They want me and me alone."

"They want all of us, youngin'." Bernard counters.

Matt gave Bernard a determined look. "But they want me more."

The three gave him concerned looks before all silently agreeing to let Matt have his way.

"Alright, I'll get these two to safety." Hunter says.

Camryn suddenly grabbed Matt's hand. "Stay safe, Matty." she says.

Matt shot her a reassuring smile. "Don't you worry about me." He suddenly stood up and threw his arms in the air. "BLITZKRIEG!"

With that, he began running towards the enemy, resulting in baffled expressions from the three.

"Seriously?" Bernard questions.

A Timberwolf had just finished stabbing a Berserker soldier, throwing him onto the ground with a triumphant grin on his face.

"Who wants a piece of me?!" he tauntingly asks.

Right at that moment, Matt came from behind and quickly placed his hand over his mouth, stopping him from making any noise. He then jabbed his knife that he got from the Berserkers right into the Timberwolf's neck, killing him instantly. Afterwards, he threw the knife into a nearby Timberwolf, which got lodged into the back of his neck.

He dropped the dead Timberwolf to the ground before running up to his knife, picking out of the dead Timberwolf he just killed. He saw an unsuspecting Timberwolf in the middle of stomping on a long dead Berserker's head. He suddenly grabbed his shock prod attached to his belt and pushed a button, extending the weapon. He approached the unsuspecting Timberwolf before jabbing the shock prod right into the back of his neck, killing the Timberwolf on the spot.. He then looked down to see a grenade attached to his belt, sparking an idea.

He quickly pulled the pin of the grenade as it literally became a ticking time bomb. Afterwards, he kicked the dead Timberwolf into some other Timberwolves. After a while, the grenade exploded, killing the surrounding Timberwolves. He turned to the side to see a Timberwolf rushing towards him with a machete, prompting him to duck out of the way in time. He stuck the shock prod right into the side of the Timberwolf's abdomen, electrocuting and stunning him. He retracted his shock prod and stabbed it right into the throat of the Timberwolf, electrocuting his entire head before dropping dead onto the ground.

He turned around to see several more Timberwolves behind him, all wielding knives and were ready to kill him. The first Timberwolf charged up to him, raising his knife in the air, only for Matt to duck out of the way before electrocuting him with his shock proud. The second Timberwolf began slashing his knife around, in hopes of cutting Matt. Unfortunately, he got a cut on his cheek and arm from all the thrashing, though they weren't that lethal. In retaliation, he jabbed the shock prod right into the eye of the Timberwolf, electrocuting his brain and killing him.

The third Timberwolf threw his knife right at Matt's face, only for the teen to duck right at the last second. The knife only managed to cut apart of his hair; he looked at the Timberwolf that tried to kill him, seeing him charging up to him. With fast reflexes, Matt jabbed his shock prod right into the abdomen of the Timbewrolf, stunning him for a few seconds. He used these few seconds as an opportunity to take advantage of the situation; he placed his head under the Timberwolf's crotch and lifted him up over his head.

He turned around to see the first Timberwolf that he stunned in the process of getting up. He stopped this by slamming the Timberwolf he was carrying right onto the first him, pinning him to the ground. He grabbed the knife that was by the first Timberwolf's face and stabbed it right into his throat before jabbing his shock prod onto the back of the Timberwolf's neck that he just slammed on top of him. Needless to say, the two Timberwolves were killed in that instant.

He turned around to see the fourth and final Timberwolf, playing catch with his knife before running up to him. Matt ran up to him as well before sliding at the last moment, not only dodging the knife attack but also tripping the Timberwolf in the process. Matt picked himself up as the Timberwolf crashed onto the ground; he stood over the downed Timberwolf and jabbed his shock prod right into the man's back. However, he continued to pour out electricity from his shock prod, causing the man to squirm uncontrollably.

Having enough of it, he placed his shock prod back onto his belt before grabbing the man and forcing him up to his feet. There, he headbutted the Timberwolf right in the nose, breaking it as blood poured out of the left nostril. He suddenly punched the Timberwolf in the stomach, causing him to groan and bend down; he grabbed his shock prod once more and jabbed it right into the Timberwolf's mouth before pushing the button. The Timberwolf's body began to course with electricity as he shook violently in front of Matt, before eventually, his brain friend, killing him.

The last Timberwolf fell to the ground backwards as Matt backed up, looking at the massacre he just caused. He painted as he looked at his bare chest, seeing how blood was splattered all over him. He would think that after killing these guys, he would feel bad, but just like what the man in his dream said, he had become completely immune to pain given to anyone else. He felt nothing.

"Caught you, fucka!" shouts a Timberwolf from behind.

Matt turned around to see a large group of Timberwolves, all holding their custom made weapons.

"We got you now, Cinderella!"

Right at that moment, the sound of a gun cocking was heard, prompting the Timberwolves to turn around. There, they saw Tyrone wielding a PKM, still in his heavy armor Berserker outfit. However, this time he had a welder's mask around his face for extra armor.

"Let me show you how a man fights!" Tyrone taunts.

"Oh shit." Matt mumbles to himself.

He quickly leaped out of the way and hid behind a barrier. Tyrone suddenly pulled the trigger as he unloaded his entire clip into the group of Timberwolves, killing them as their bodies hit the ground. Matt poked his head out of cover to see a pile of Timberwolves all dead on the ground.

"I can't… die!" exclaims a dying Timberwolf before passing away.

Matt turned to Tyrone to see the large black man lift up his welder's mask and shoot him a smile.

"Hey." he casually says.

Matt, confused as to the awkward greeting, stared at him before responding. "Sup." he says.

"Where's Jerzy?"

Matt's face instantly contorted to an expression of sadness. "Tyrone, he-"

"They've entered the greenhouse! They're burning everything!" shouts a Berserker solider.

"Oh no! My petunias!" shouts Kwasi who came running out of a building.

"Matt!" Tyrone called out from behind. "Check out the greenhouse! I'm gonna check on the other buildings!"

"Jawohl! (Affirmative!)" Matt complies.

With that, Matt and Tyrone ran in two different directions, with Matt following the unnamed Berserker soldier and Kwasi. Eventually, the three arrived at the greenhouse just in time to see it explode, sending fire to shoot out of the door. Several Berserkers came running out of the greenhouse on flames, all screaming in agonizing pain as the Timberwolves all watched and laughed at them burning to death.

Matt wasted no time as he rushed forward to an unsuspecting Timberwolf, whom turned his head to the last second. However, he was met by a knife to his chest as Matt quickly pushed him off of the blade before grabbing his Beretta M9 in his holster. He immediately aimed it at the heads of the Timberwolves and fired his gun, each shot penetrating a Timberwolf's skull. However, the last Timberwolf survived due to Matt running out of ammo.

There, he saw the Timberwolf rushing forward with a paddle with blades duct taped to the end. The teenager improvised as he threw the gun at the face of the rushing Timberwolf, momentarily blinding him. He used this to his advantage as he did a powerful drop kick right in the face of the Timberwolf, knocking him down. Both Matt and the Timberwolf fell to the ground as Matt was the first to pick himself up. He grabbed his knife and planted it right smack in the middle of the Timberwolf's face, killing him instantly.

Matt panted as his heart raced a mile per minute; at that moment, he heard the sound of a fire extinguisher. He looked up to see the Berserkers soldier slowly putting out the flames with the extinguisher.. Right at that moment, Kwasi's radio went off.

_~We need backup!~_ a Berserker soldier could be heard yelling over the radio. _~The Timberwolves have us pinned by the barracks and they're stealing our guns and ammunition and are torching the armory! Request immediate assistance!~_

"We need to get to the awm'y wight now!" Kwasi shouts, his African accent more audible. "We can take the jeep to get tha' fasta'! Come on! Get in!"

The three survivors all ran towards a military jeep as the Berserker soldier got in the driver's seat. Matt took up the passenger seat while Kwasi took the backseat behind the driver. The Berserker soldier started the jeep as he stepped on the gas pedal, quickly speeding out of the area and towards the armory. As they drove towards the armory, they saw many Berserkers fighting the Timberwolves, whom appeared to be destroying most of their buildings with explosives.

Finally, they arrived at the armory just in time to see a whole group of Timberwolves throwing molotovs at the building. Several ammo crates could be seen outside with the Timberwolves all grabbing guns and ammunition. As the car got closer to the armory, a Timberwolf fired his rifle at the driver, killing the Berserker as the car went out of control.

"Shit! Shit! He's dead!" Matt shouts.

"Take the wheel and twy to pawk safely! We mozt save the awm'y and the weapons!" Kwasi orders.

"I think the armory is long gone by now!"

Matt grabbed the wheel and began steering it, while the car continued to drive due to the dead Berserker's foot still stepping on the pedal. He swerved out of the way on time just as a rocket got launched out of an RPG, flying passed the jeep as it continued to drive towards them. The Timberwolves all scrambled out of the way as the car got closer to them. Only a few of them got run over by the car as it drove passed them; Matt looked ahead to see a gas tank in front of him, getting closer and closer by the second.

"Bail out! Gas tank!" Mat shouts.

Both Kwasi and Matt bailed out of the car as it continued to drive towards the gas tank. The car impacted with the gas tank as a huge explosion erupted in the air. The radio tower that was behind the gas tank began to collapse due to the explosion. The radio tower began to fall forward, prompting Matt and Kwasi to run out of the way; a couple of Timberwolves were unlucky as they were unfortunately crushed by the giant radio tower, killing them.

Matt quickly got up as he felt his hand brush against a bottle attached to his belt. There, he saw a molotov that he still had from making at the whiskey factory. Now thinking it was a good time, he grabbed the molotov and quickly lit up the cloth with a lighter.

"Burn motherfucker!" he shouts as he threw the molotov.

The molotov broke and shattered to pieces once it hit the ground below the Timberwolves, setting them ablaze. They all screamed in agonizing pain as they tried to put out the flames, but to no avail. Kwasi suddenly came out of left field as he punched a Timberwolf to the ground, stabbing his head with his knife. Matt grabbed his own knife and threw it at the head of another Timberwolf. The knife penetrated the man's head through the eye as he fell dead in his tracks, literally.

Right at that moment, a barrage of bullets pierced through the remaining Timberwolves that were in the area. Both Matt and Kwasi looked up to see several Berserker soldiers as well as Tyrone firing their guns at the Timberwolves, quickly putting them down.

"Don't let me die…. Eugh." groaned a dying Timberwolf.

And then, everything went quiet aside from the crackling of the fire as every survivor panted. "I think that's all of them." Tyrone says.

"Christ, this is messed up." Matt mumbles.

"Wha's Ja'zy?" Kwasi asks.

A few Berserker soldiers, and even Matt, looked down, knowing full well what happened to him. "Matt." Tyrone quietly calls out, prompting the teen to look up at him. There, he saw Tyrone shooting him a serious expression. "Where's Jerzy?"

* * *

Jerzy lied on the ground, as Jake, Tyrone, Matt, Kwasi, and several other Berserker soldiers looked down at the corpse, all of whom had saddened expressions… except Matt. Seeing how he only knew him for less than a day, he wasn't really affected by Jerzy's death. But he understood that these guys knew him longer than he had, so he let them have their moment of silence.

"M-... Matt." Jerzy groaned. The teenager bent down as Jerzy lifted his head up, hsi time soon coming to an end. "Now… we have reason… to attack them."

And with that, he took his final breath as he fell back down, his lifeless eyes forever staring at the sky above. Matt stood back up as Kwasi took off his hat, placing it over his heart.

"They'll pay." Kwasi says with audible anger in his voice. "They'll all pay. They'll leawn that it was a mistake to mess with us. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us and soon, they'll leawn that assh lesson. Is death will not go unpunished. We will ave oa' wevenge, even if we die twying. Timba'wolf blood will be spilled on thee' land, fo'va' weminding them of thee' mistakes.

Kwasi turned to Tyrone and Matt. "What a' the damages?" he asks.

"Infirmary is wrecked." Tyone answered. "Armory is partially damaged and we're missing 60% of our ammo and weapons. Greenhouse is completely burnt down and part of the barracks are destroyed but they're still intact. Some of us will have to be sleeping outside for now on."

"Caozalities?"

Tyrone sighed deeply. "I don't know." he replies.

Kwasi sighed heavily in a sad manner. "As the new leada' of the Bessa'ka's, I mozt take command and wesponsibility of this attack. Oa' men will not be fo'gotten and will ca'tainly not die in vain. We will ave oa' wevenge against the savages."

"When?" Matt asks.

"We'll discozs this lata'. wight now we mozt b'y Tedesco and gatha' ev'y sa'vivo' and eal thee' wounds to thee' full extent. Oa' infe'mawy is gone so it will be tough but we a' tougha'. Hurrah." Kwasi.

"Hurrah." Tyrone responds, saluting wit by placing his fist by his heart.

"Hurrah?" Matt does the same though in an uncertain manner.

"Go meet up with yoa' fwiends. See if they a' okay. We would appweciate it if you come to Tedesco's fun'al. You a' one of us aft'all." Kwasi tells Matt.

Matt did the newly learned salute as he exhaled through his nostrils. "Thank you, Kwasi." he says.

With that, Matt turned around, leaving Tyrone, Kwasi, and the rest of the Berserkers to go meet up with his friends, hoping they were alright.

* * *

Matt entered the damaged hall of the barracks, noticing how parts of the ceiling fell in the hallway. Despite looking like it was about to collapse, it was in a surprisingly good condition. Matt looked at the end of the hall to see the rest of his friends, and Jaren Camryn, whom was listening to Jake talk to the rest, turned her head and immediately spotted Matt, relieved that he was alright.

"Matt!" she shouts as she ran up to him. Camryn dove into his arms as she gave him a huge bear hug, with Matt immediately reciprocating back. "Oh my God! I'm so glad you're alright."

"Me too." Matt says.

"Kid." Hunter calls out, prompting to look up at him. "You alright?"

Matt and Camryn released each other at that moment. "I'm a little shaken up but I'm good." he answered. "What about you guys?"

"We fought off some Timberwolves that managed to get inside but the building still took a lot of damage." Bernard answered.

"I dropped my granola bar." Louis plainly states.

"What the hell happened?" Jake asks.

"The Timberwolves were looking for us and attacked your base. I mean, it's kind of obvious." Matt answered.

"Shiiit." Jake whispered. "Fuck. Jerzy is gonna have a field day with this." He turned to his friends but was met by saddened expressions from each of them, sans Louis who had no idea. "What?"

"Youngin'," Bernard starts. "Jerzy, he's uh… He's in a better place."

Jake's expression visibly changed after hearing this as he began to mentally break down. "Shit… Shit, man! This is some heavy shit!" he exclaims.

"Cyrus just shot him right then and there. No hesitation." Hunter added.

Matt turned to Hunter. "I don't think he needs to know how his leader died, Hunter." he slightly scolded him.

Louis was patting Jake on the back, comforting his friend. "It's okay." he tells his friend. "He's no longer in pain anymore."

"He was never in pain to begin with. But… Thanks, anyway." Jake responds.

"They want us to go to his funeral but I don't know what time they want us to come.." Matt speaks up.

"I'll deal with that." Jake speaks up. "You guys just rest up… In what remains of this building."

With that, Jake and Louis walked away, leaving the four to themselves. "I'm gonna try and find another room." Bernard speaks up. "Mine got… Well… destroyed."

"Yeah, same here. I might have to go to the other barracks seeing how those aren't damaged that much." Hunter says.

"Our room is completely fine to be honest." Camryn reveals.

"Well aren't you a lucky girl." Bernard playfully teases. "Come on, Hunter. Let's go find a new room."

With that, Hunter and Bernard walked away, leaving Matt and Camryn to themselves. Camryn turned to go inside their room and Matt went to do the same, until Jaren walked pass him, shooting him a nasty look.

"You should've died in the attack." Jaren growled as he walked away.

Matt flipped him off behind him before entering his room, closing the door. When he entered, he saw Camryn taking off her body armor and sleeveless hoodie, revealing a pink bra. Matt took off his own cargo vest and red headband as he threw them on the ground, now only in his red cargo pants and military boots. He laid on top of the bed as he began to rest for a few moments.

"You look nice in a bra." Matt blatantly states out of the blue.

Camryn flinched in shock as she began to flush furiously. "Thanks." she says in an annoyed tone.

Matt suddenly got up and began stretching his limbs and yawned, only wanting a few seconds of rest. He bent down to grab his cargo vest and his headband, while Camryn placed on a gray shirt behind him.

"Hey, Matt." Camryn calls out. "Can I ask you something? It's something I've been wanting to ask ever since yesterday." Matt didn't give a reaction, as if he didn't hear her. "Matt… Matt!"

Finally, Matt turned his head to face her. "Huh?" he asks.

"I was calling you. How come you didn't say anything?"

"You weren't calling me."

"I was saying, 'Matt.' over and over again."

Matt, realizing his blunder, looked down, almost in embarrassment. "Oh, well I… I probably didn't hear you."

"We're right next to each other… alone… in this room… in this very small room." she says.

"What do you need?" he asks, ignoring her.

Camryn rolled her eyes, getting tired of Matt's lone wolf personality real quick. "Remember when we first met?" she asks.

Matt chuckled at the memory. "Oh yeeeeah." he says with a smile. "You were feeding me bread when I was chained up to the wall. You know, out of context, that sounds really kinky."

"Do you remember how you said you hate killing people?" she asks, ignoring his perverted comment.

"Yeah. What about it?" he asks.

"Do you remember what you said yesterday?"

"What does this have to do with anything? Why the sudden change in subjects?" he asks in confusion.

"Yesterday you said you thought killing people was… fun." Camryn says, almost in horror.

Matt chuckled as he turned around with a smile on his face, his back facing towards her. "Camryn, I was high on coke at the time-"

"This was before." she interrupts.

Matt's eyes widened as his expression went from happy to shocked. Right at that very moment, he realized that she was right. His breathing began to grow shaky as his jaw trembled; he turned to the side to face the mirror. However, as soon as he faced the mirror, for a _split_ second, he didn't see his own reflection but instead, the reflection of Cyrus. It wasn't even for a second but Matt saw it. He saw how his reflection shook and turned to Cyrus before returning to normal, which, honestly… freaked him out.

"Matt." Camryn calls out, though he did not answer. "I'm just worried… You're going back on your own morals. You said that you hate killing people but now you're saying you're enjoying it. What happened to you? What did Cyrus do?"

Matt snapped his head as soon as he heard Cyrus, believing that it was his own name. "What?" he asks, coming out of the trance.

"You're not alright, Matt! Something's wrong with you!" she yells.

"I'm fine!"

"No, you're not!" she shouts back. "I'm worried for you! Really, I am! I've only known you for the better half of a week and I can tell that you're not yourself! When I first met you, you were just some scared kid fighting for his life in the Arena! Now you're just… You're broken! You're broken, Matt! You're acting more and more like Cyrus now! You talk to a stuffed animal for Christ sakes! That's not normal at all!"

"Oh yeah, well what's the norm in this world, huh?!" Matt shouts in anger.

"Definitely not that!" Camryn shouts back. Her angry expression softened as she panted. "I just don't want you to change for the worse. You're better than that. You're not a Timberwolf… and you're not Cyrus."

Matt turned back to the mirror, once again, seeing his reflection become Cyrus for a split second before returning back to normal. He blew a heavy sigh as he looked down, gulping as he slowly nodded his head.

"You're right… I'm not… I'm not him… I'm just…"

Matt tried to find the words but couldn't, resulting in him smacking his lips and running his hand through his long, shoulder length hair. "You're just what?" she asks.

Matt turned to the bed where Barleycorn was sitting by the pillows; he walked to the side of the bed and grabbed the stuffed pink elephant, caressing it as if it was his own child. "I'm just alone." he says. "My whole life I've been alone. I've been betrayed by my family and I don't know what love is. I guess I'm just… lost. I'm not Christoff because it wasn't my given name. I'm not Matilda because I'm not a girl. Matt isn't short for Matthew. So I guess… I guess I don't have a name. I don't know. Ever since Cyrus and Murrdock, I haven't really been troubled by this. I didn't really care about who I was or what my name was until recently. Maybe it's a delayed identity disorder? I don't know… I guess I'm just… confused as to what is happening around me. Like I said, I don't know. I'm just shooting blanks here."

Camryn sighed through her nostrils as she sat down on the bed next to him. "You don't have to be confused." she says. Matt looked at her. "People care about you enough to give you a name. Hunter, Bernard… Me. Don't forget that, okay?"

Matt thought about it for a moment before nodding his head. "Yeah." he says. For a moment, he was silent as nothing could be heard inside the room, until he spoke up again. "Barleycorn says thanks too."

"And you ruined the moment." Camryn tiredly says as she gets up.

"What? Barleycorn has a say in this, don't you B-Corn?" Matt asks the stuffed pink elephant, hugging it tightly.

"Were you always like this before? Talking to inanimate objects?" Camryn asks.

"Inanimate? You don't see his mouth moving?" Matt asks, genuinely surprised.

Camryn stared at him with a shocked expression, trying to figure out if he was joking or not. Based on how his surprise facial expression hasn't changed at this point and even got more confused. She could take a guess that he wasn't joking and genuinely saw the stuffed pink elephant talking to him. To say that this concerned her was an understatement because now she was doubting on how stable he really was.

Right at that moment, someone knocked on the door outside. "Come in." Matt says.

The door opened, revealing the person to be behind the door to be Kwasi. "It's time." he says.

* * *

Jerzy's corpse had already been buried outside of the Berserker's base in the graveyard, where there were many makeshift crosses that were spread around the area. The entire Berserker army, as well as the newcomers, stood behind the grave as Kwasi stood in front of it, having a saddened expression on his face.

"We lost a lotta men." Kwasi starts off. "Some ad fwiends and families in a'. They will be missed deawly. But we lost the one man that bwought us all togetha'. Ja'zy Tedesco was oa' leada' and oa' fwiend and those savages in the woods took im away fwom us. E will be missed deawly. Tedesco wanted nothing but peace... I was saved fwom a bullet to the ead by im. When I ad given up ope, e bwought me a' and gave me a place to stay. e was my v'y fisst fwiend since the stawt of the apokalips. E was like a bwotha' to me, and losing im... Fuckin a'ts… We will fight back… It's what we do. We will not let is death be meaningless. We a' called the Bessa'ka's becaoze we fight to the death and to the v'y end until no enemy is left standing!"

"Hurrah!" every Berserker shouted.

Right at that moment, every Berserker, including Jake took out their knives or daggers and walked over to the grave. They all simultaneously slashed their arms in nonlethal areas as blood dripped onto the grave, staining the dirt with blood. This act surprised the new members, Matt and the rest, as they watched this all unfold in front of them. Kwasi suddenly lit a match as he dropped it to the ground, creating a fire on the grave.

"Oa' blood will be spilled on is gwave to signify that we will always be with im to the v'y end." Kwasi says. "The fe' is a signal elps the blood ba'n into the soil so that it will be closa' to oa' leada''s body and eawt. e may be gone, but e will always keep fighting in oa' eawts. Not only is e in a betta' plage, but e is in the best plage. Ja'zy Tedesco, Bessa'ka' Leada', you fought awd and diligently and yoa' actions will fo'va' ba'n in oa' eawts and mem'ies. Tha' will neva' be a mo' betta' leada' than you, my fwiend. Totsiens (Goodbye), old friend."

Every Berserker simultaneously saluted the dead leader as the flames and smoke rose up into the air. Kwasi suddenly approached Matt's group, having a determined expression on his face. "Afta' we eal," he began. "we will discozs a count'attack on the Timba'wolves' base to avenge oa' fallen leada'. Meet us at the contwol towa' at night so we can all discozs it. We will ave oa' wevenge adn the Timba'wolves will fall."

With that said, Kwasi left the survivors alone, all of whom still had bewildered expressions on their faces. "Bunch of wack jobs." Jaren mumbles as he walks away.

* * *

That night, every single Berserker gathered in the control tower in the meeting room, prepared to discuss the plans for the Timberwolf raid.

"So we know why we'we a 'ere?" Kwasi asks.

"To avenge Jerzy and destroy the Timberwolves." a Berserker replies.

"In o'da' to do that, we mozt attack thee' own ome like they did to oa's. Tha' is no otha' way… Ja'zy wanted this."

"So… Any ideas?" Tyrone asks.

"Burn 'em all!"

"Destroy their base!"

"Make sure all of them cower in fear and die a slow and painful death!"

Matt stared at the Berserker group with a blank expression. "Those are… not very good ideas but ideas nonetheless." he says.

"You got any better idea?" Jaren asks aggressively.

"Well… Camryn knows the base. She was a Timberwolf." he says.

Everyone turned to Camryn, whom immediately felt a lot of pressure just then. "Hi." she says.

"Is this twue?" Kwasi asks.

Camryn gulped, thinking that she would be shot if she answered but knew she had to tell the truth. "Yes." she nervously says.

"Well this is gweat! You know the base inside and out! You can elp us with the planning!" Kwasi enthusiastically exclaims.

"Well… First we would need a map of the place… Which I doubt you have." she says.

Jake suddenly opened a cabinet. "What's the name of the place?" he asks.

Camryn stared at him momentarily before answering. "Uh, it's an explosive factory in the woods owned by the government. It was used to manufacture grenades and other explosives for the military." she answers.

Jake rummaged around the cabinet before pulling out a blueprint and laying it on the table. "This one?" he asks

Camryn took a quick look at the blueprint. "Yes. This is the one." she says. Tyrone handed her a marker as she took off the cap. She blew a breath of air as she prepared herself to give away all the information she knew about the base. "Alright, so, first off the front gates of the base are heavily fortified with steel gates that would require a 16 ton truck to break. Around the outside perimeter is a huge wall of walkers, some dead, some alive. There are trenches around the inside of the perimeter that are filled with live walkers."

"Why?" Tyrone asks.

"It's to keep out intruders and to make sure no one escapes." she answers. "The Timberwolves have a problem with deserters and betrayers. It's kind of a intimidation tactic and boy does it work. After the front gates, there are usually armed guards, either with guns or melee weapons, patrolling the area. There's no difference between nighttime and daytime other than lighting. But we would be completely in the dark at night. When we escaped, we lost everyone in our group aside from us because it was so dark."

"So we hit at day?" Jaren asks.

"Correct." Camryn replies. "There used to be a generator out back that would power the lights but that got destroyed so I doubt they replaced it. They're probably using lanterns now. Like I said, wouldn't make a difference. The factory is heavily armed and has multiple floors and rooms. The sub basement is where they keep the prisoners and torture them. There's an area away from the factory underground called the Arena, where a Timberwolf named Lockjaw wrestles his victims to death. He has claimed over 100 of them." A few Berserkers gulped. "We can completely avoid that area." Those Berserkers blew a sigh of relief. "Our main target is the factory itself. However, there are buildings around the area that serve other purposes, like infirmaries, or armories. We can target those as well. Because this is an explosive factory, we can use that to our advantage. There's a secret room in the sub basement area that stores a bunch of explosives. If we plant those explosives here… here… and here, we will be able to level the entire building."

Matt made an explosion sound in response.

"Precisely." Camryn responds with a smile. "Chances are when we enter the base, every Timberwolf will be caught with their pants down and will be confused for a few minutes before they realize what's going on. We can use that to our advantage. However, inside is the main problem. A few people will have to lead a team to enter the building in order to plant the explosives, but because they'll be entering the inside of the factory, they'll be under heavy fire. I'm guessing that you guys have armor seeing how this is a military base."

"The soldia's befo' us took all the awmo' and only left us with a few." Kwasi replies.

"Damn." Camryn curses.

"Oweva'" Kwasi led on. "they did leave us with this."

Kwasi opened a door, revealing the contents inside surprising the newcomers. "I'll be damned." Bernard says in awe.

"This is the only one so only one can oze it." Kwasi warns.

"I'll take it." Matt speaks up.

His friends turned to him with a surprised expression. "You sure?" Hunter asks in disbelief.

Matt responded with a determined stare. "I'm sure." he said certainly. "I want these guys dead as much as you guys do."

"How come?" asks a Berserker.

Matt turned to him and gave him a stare. "Let's just say I have some after effects of when I was imprisoned by them." he replies, referring to his hallucinations and ever growing identity crisis.

"Alright so Matt will lead one of the bomb squad in the building. Who will the other three be?" Camryn asks.

"I have heavy armor as well, so I can go." Tyrone spoke up.

"Holy shit, I just noticed you." Camryn says in a surprised tone. "My God you are… big."

Matt snorted. "That's what she said." he says, stifling a laugh.

"Yeah, you will definitely lead a bomb squad in there."

"I also want to meet this Lockjaw." Tyrone says, cracking his knuckles. "Want to see what's so tough about him."

"And I'll be the the'd." Kwasi says.

"Alright. So we have our bomb squad leaders." Camryn says. "We can use either remote explosives or timers so that way we can all get to a safe distance before the bombs blow up. The majority of the Timberwolves will be inside so when the explosives go off, they'll either be dead or dying. However, only _one_ Timberwolf MUST BE killed… Cyrus."

"I'll go for him." Matt speaks up. "I have a personal vendetta against him."

"Now," Camryn continues. "_Before_ all this, we need to acquire a heavy vehicle. After that, whoever is driving needs to duck down as soon as they see the gates, otherwise the guards will open fire. Speaking of guards, there are sniper towers all around, so we need to take those out as well. After that, it's all just a matter of picking off targets and trying not to get killed. While the bomb squad is tearing up the inside of the base, the rest will be hitting the other buildings… And that's it."

"So we ave a plan." Kwasi says. "We'll attack tomo'wow. We alweady ave a twuck so we can oze that. We ave some wemaining weapons and ammo, even some wPGs. Camwyn, thank you fo' doing this fo' us. Ev'yone, go get some west. We'll be itting the base at noon tomo'wow. This is oa' vendetta. This is when the Timba'wolves fall. Hurrah!"

"Hurrah!" everyone shouts.

With that, everyone scattered as Matt approached Kwasi. "Hey, Kwasi." he calls out, earning a hum. "I've been meaning to mention… There's this city, named Greensboro, infested with super walkers. They're not like ordinary walkers. They're strong, powerful. You would need an entire army to take them out… which is what you guys are."

"What a' you saying?" Kwasi asks.

"I'm saying that maybe… after the Timberwolves, we can attack Greensboro and knock out the super walkers off the map. It would make the place more safe and more easy to travel through." Matt says.

Kwasi thought about ti for a moment. "Hmm… Well we are looking to expand our territory to other cities. Greensboro seems like a good place to form another Berserker community. You have yourself a deal." Kwasi enthusiastically says.

"Perfect!" Kwasi suddenly spat in his hand and extended it, disgusting Matt. "I'm not touching that hand but the deal is still on." Kwasi smiled as he wiped his hand on his vest before walking away. "Oh! One more thing!"

"What is it?" Kwasi asks.

Matt approached him. "During the raid, there's a… a specific weapon I have in mind."

Matt got close to Kwasi's ear and whispered what he wanted, earning a smirk from the new Berserker leader. "We ave one waiting jozt fo' someone to oze it." he says.

* * *

Mat and Camryn entered their room as they began to undress for the night, with Matt taking off his cargo vest and headband while Camryn took off her shirt, revealing her pink bra again.

"Are you nervous?" Matt asks Camryn as she sits on the bed.

"About the attack tomorrow? Of course I am." Camryn answers. After putting on her pajama shirt, she turned to Matt. "Hey, are you alright with going with the full frontal attack. You can stay behind and-"

"No…. No, I'm sure. I want to do this. I have my own personal mission." Matt interrupts her.

"Alright." she says, taking off her pants, revealing her panties. "You know, I've been wanting to say this…" she turned to Matt again. "I know we only met like five days ago but I felt like we've known each other forever."

Matt chuckled silently as he looked down, a small smile on his face. "Me too." he says.

"And you know what?" Camryn asks. He turned to her to see that she had a conflicted expression on her face. "I've also been wanting to talk about something else as well. It's about my feelings. Not my feelings about the apocalypse… My feelings towards you." Matt grew a slightly shocked expression. "I finally figured them out… I love you… I love everything about you. I love how you care about your friends even though you put on a lone wolf persona. I love your sarcastic and smart ass remarks. They're really funny. I love your voice, your hair, your eyes. You have really beautiful eyes, you know? I love how you don't give a shit what anyone thinks about you. You just who you are because… You don't care… I love how you'll always fight for the people close to you and you're always loyal to them… That's why I love you." she says with a smile.

Matt stared at her with a blank expression while she continued to warmly smile at him. "That was the most poorly strategized confession I have ever heard in my entire life." he blankly says in a monotone voice.

Camryn shot him an angry look. "Hey, at least I gathered up the courage to-"

Her sentence was cut short when she felt a pair of lips latch onto hers, prompting her to widen her eyes in surprise. Matt had leaned forward and planted his lips on hers as he closed his eyes, giving her a deep, passionate kiss. After a few seconds of kissing, he removed his lips and smiled at her slyly, rubbing her hair as he moved a piece of it behind her ear. Camryn had a flushed face as she was speechless, something that Matt found amusing.

"You're cute when you're bashful." he teases. He brought her in as he kissed the top of her head before caressing it. "I love you too."

The two stared into each other's eyes before they went back to kissing each other, this time more passionately. What started off by gentle kisses turned into a make out session as the two continued to go at it. Camryn felt her crotch get hotter as Matt felt his pants get tighter. Having enough of the obstruction of their clothing, Matt quickly took off Camryn's shirt, whom was now only in her underwear.

The teen suddenly stood up and began to unbuckle his pants, kicking off his boots in the process. He tore them off as he threw his pants off to the floor, now only in his boxers and socks. Because he was in his boxers, his massive bulge was _very_ visible to Camryn, whom blushed massively. Matt grabbed Camryn and began to make out with her some more as he began to unhook her bra. After finally taking off the piece of clothing, Matt threw the bra to the ground as he and Camryn started to lay on the bed.

Matt got on top of Camryn, kissing her lips, her cheek, her neck, to her collarbone. He began to cup and caress Camryn's bare naked B size breast, causing her to moan. He started to lay more kisses as he got lower and lower, finally reaching down to her crotch. There, he grabbed a hold of her light pink lace panties and pulled them off, revealing Camryn's shaven love slit. Now, Camryn was fully naked as Matt dove into her core, eating her like she was the only thing worth eating.

Camryn let out a burst of moans as she tightly gripped Matt's hair, feeling a large amount of euphoria flowing through her system. As he continued to eat her out, Matt's love stick only got more and more hard by the second, making his boxers feel more tight. Camryn was in complete bliss as Matt's tongue slipped inside her, before he inserted two fingers as well. She was completely taken over and off the grid.

"Oh Matt." she moaned.

Matt suddenly stopped as he stood up, taking off his socks and boxers, revealing his erection that looked to be about more than 6 inches. He climbed back on top of her and began to make out with her more before grabbing his shaft and inserting it into her. As soon as he went in, both he and her moaned loudly; he started to go slow, earning a few more moans from Camryn. After a while, he fastened his pace and was now ramming her, earning more loud moans from her. At this point, they weren't just having sex and making love, they were fucking.

Camryn hugged Matt's back as her nails clawed into him as she spread her legs more, wanting more and more of him to be inside her.

"Matt! Matt! Matt! Keep going! Faster! Fuck!" she moaned.

"Fuuuuck." Matt moaned as well.

"Shiiiiit. This feels so good."

The bed continued to bash against the wall as Matt continued to plow into her; Matt went in and kissed her again, both moaning into each other's mouths. After a few minutes of primal fucking, Matt felt his orgasm build up, feeling that he was about to explode any second now.

"Matt… I'm close… I'm about to cum." Camryn moaned.

Matt groaned, unable to respond as he was too deep into the deep end. Matt suddenly felt Camryn's fluids spread across his dick as she let out a long, drawn out moan. This set him over the edge as he manly groaned in a husky voice, releasing himself inside her. After a few seconds, he felt the last spurt exit him as he began to calm down. He suddenly fell on top of her as he started to gently kiss her neck, both of them a heaping, panting pile of mess.

"I love you." Matt whispered into her ear.

"I love you too." she says back.

She turned her head as the two shared one more kiss, finally sealing the deal with their love.

* * *

A lone dirt road in the middle of the woods seemed to have been untouched by the apocalypse, as a walker was roaming around the area in the middle of the road. As the walker minded its own business, growling consistently, a large APC suddenly ran over it as multiple military jeeps followed suit. Inside the APC, Hunter sat in the passenger seat with a Berserker driving it; they had a bulletproof glass windshield, so they didn't need to worry about getting shot outside.

"We a' neawing the fact'y." Kwasi announces before turning around. "Awe you two weady back tha'?"

"I've never been more ready in my life." Tyrone responds.

"I'm dressed to impress." Matt's voice was also heard, though it appeared to have been muffled by something.

A Timberwolf leaned against the railing of the factory balcony, admiring the calm scenery in front of him with a warm, contemptuous smile on his face. He suddenly looked down, noticing something approaching the front gates of the compound. He grew a slight confused expression as he squinted his eyes, trying to get a more clear view of what was coming. To his surprise, it was a military convoy, speeding it's way towards the gates; he grew a shocked expression as he widened his eyes before running back inside the factory.

"We got intruders!" he shouts to his comrades inside the base.

The snipers that were in their guard towers began firing their weapons at the APC, but to no avail as it was heavily armored. The APC got closer and closer to the front gates until they crashed right through them, successfully infiltrating the base. Right at that moment, every Timberwolf that was in the front yard began open firing at the APC as Kwasi and the Berserker got out of their vehicle.

Inside the base, Cyrus looked out the window in his office, seeing the APC under fire.

While Kwasi was lucky to not get hit by a single bullet, the random Berserker wasn't so lucky as he got shot in the back, killing him. Kwasi quickly unlocked the back of the APC; several more Timberwolves continued to fire at the armored vehicle until a few of them appeared with rocket launchers. They all simultaneously fired their RPG's at the vehicle, successfully destroying it and blowing it up.

They all ceased fire as they all grew triumphant expressions while smoke covered the entire area. Right at that moment, a single Berserker came running out of the smoke, wielding a shotgun as he began shouting a war cry. One Timberwolf fired a single round into the Berserker's head, killing him in his tracks. They all began to celebrate for their fast victory until they spotted something else coming out of the smoke.

All of a sudden, three figures came walking out of the smoke: Kwasi, whom was holding a MGL (multiple grenade launcher), Tyrone, whom was in his armor and holding his PKM, and finally Matt. However, Matt was wearing a military ballistic heavy armor suit that resembled a juggernaut with the words "RUN N' HIDE PUSSIES!" written on his chest; he was also wearing a gas mask over his face that was connected to an oxygen tank by a hose. On his gas mask was a crude painting of a bloody smiley face; however, the most prominent feature was his weapon. He was wearing a World War 2 era flamethrower, complete with a fuel tank around his back.

A few Timberwolves stared in shock at the three guys in front of them, mostly towards Matt. A single Timberwolf turned to his buddy before turning back to the three survivors.

"What da fuck?" he questions.

Matt suddenly fired his flamethrower at the Timberwolves, setting them ablaze. Every Timberwolf that got set on fire began to scream in horrific pain as they started to run around like headless chickens. Tyrone and Kwasi suddenly fired their own weapons, with Tyrone gunning down a group of Timberwolves and Kwasi firing at the building and another group.

"Welcome to Hell!" Matt taunted under his gas mask.

"Bessa'ka's! ATTAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!" Kwasi shouts.

Right at that moment, a large army of Berserkers came storming inside the base through the smoke as they all screamed war cries. Some of the Berserkers fired their shotguns at the Timberwolves, killing them, while a few got up close and personally as they began fighting them with melee weapons.

Cyrus suddenly grabbed the intercom and turned it on, a furious expression on his face. "Kill all of them now my pups! Don't let them take over the Wolf's Den!" he ordered his men.

A few Timberwolves fell as a Berserker stabbed a random Timberwolf with a spear, pinning him to the ground. After several moments of utter confusion, the Timberwolves all regained their composure as they began fighting the Berserkers.

Tyrone fired his PKM at the balcony where the Timberwolves with the rocket launchers were at, killing them. A Timberwolf accidentally pulled the trigger of his rocket launcher as he fell to the ground, completely destroying the balcony they were on. Kwasi fired his grenade launcher at the sniper towers, successfully bringing them down, before firing it at a group of Timberwolves.

Camryn and Hunter were amongst the group as Hunter fired his weapon at some Timberwolves; Camryn held a machete, killing a Timberwolf on the ground, with Bernard stabbing a Timberwolf with his cane sword beside them.

"Jake! Louis! Go to the infirmary! Me and Hunter will take the armory!" Camryn ordered.

"Right!" Jake and Louis both said as they ran off.

"I'm going with them! Stay safe you two!" Bernard shouts as he follows the two survivors.

"Remember," Hunter began. "our job is to take out as many Timberwolves there are out here and destroy the buildings while the bomb squad goes inside!"

Matt continued to fire his flamethrower at the Timberwolves, whom all were firing their weapons at him. However, because he was wearing a heavy ballistic military armor suit, he didn't feel a thing.

"Hmmm! Crispy! Ha ha haaa!" Matt laughed underneath his mask.

"Oh, Matty. Matty. Matty." Cyrus' voice was heard on the speaker. "Did you really think you could fuck with me? That you could attack ME? In my own home?! If you want me so badly, Cinderella, then come get me! See if you're strong enough to face my pups head on! If you survive, look for me! Then, we can have a chat! But in the meantime, my pups… FUCK 'EM UP!"

"I've got ah bullet with yo name on it!" a Timberwolf taunted as he fired his weapon at Matt.

Matt felt nothing as he retaliated, firing his flamethrower at him, setting him ablaze. "Burn! Burn some more!" Matt taunted maliciously.

All around him, a whole massacre was going on in the Timberwolf's base between them and the Berserkers. A Berserker charged his way into a Timberwolf, impaling him with his spear as he pinned him to the ground. However, that Berserker was suddenly shot in the back by a Timberwolf with a shotgun, killing him instantly. All of a sudden, another Berserker came from the side of the Timberwolf and planted his knife right into his neck, before that Berserker got stabbed in the back by a random Timberwolf.

A Berserker went to punch a Timberwolf only to get his punch blocked before getting stabbed in the stomach by a knife. The Timberwolf looked to the side only to get his face bashed in with a trench mace by a Berserker, who began to unleash a violent assault on that Timberwolf. Somewhere else in the battlefield was a Timberwolf, pinning a Berserker to the ground as he began to bash his head in with a club. All of a sudden, a grenade was carelessly thrown next to them, before exploding, sending body parts flying.

Elsewhere, Jaren could be seen firing his shotgun at a Timberwolf, sending him falling to the ground, before swinging his gun at three Berserkers, knocking them to the ground as well. He quickly aimed his shotgun at the three Berserkers and fired a shot in each of their heads, killing them, before pumping it. A few Berserkers ran passed him as they ran towards the front doors of the factory, only to be gunned down by some Timberwolves.

Tyrone aimed his PKM as he unloaded his clip at the line of Timberwolves, killing them as well as clearing a path to the front doors. "There are the doors!" he shouts! "Let's head in!"

"Wememba' the plan, ev'yone! You know wha' to go!" Kwasi shouts.

Kwasi, Tyrone, and Matt lead a large group of Berserkers to the front doors of the factory, nearing them by inches. "Matt!" Camryn suddenly called out behind him. Matt turned around to see her shooting him a worried expression. "Be safe, alright?"

Matt smiled underneath his gas mask as he shot her a thumbs up. "The only person who's allowed to kill me is myself. No one has the privilege to take my life but me. I'm a man of my word, Cam, and I promise you, I'll come out alive." he tells her.

Camryn gave him a smile before tightly gripping her machete and returning to combat; Matt turned around only to be met face to face with Jaren, whom gave him an angry glare.

"If you come out of there alive… I'll kill you." he tells him.

"I can roast you like a chicken right now but I won't. Because unlike you, I know what's more important here. We'll settle this some other time." Matt tells him, shoving him out of the way.

Jaren shot Matt a glare before firing his shotgun at a charging Timberwolf, killing him. Matt approached Tyrone, Kwasi, and the rest of their Berserker Bomb Squad that wer at the front doors.

"You can do the ono's." Kwasi tells the teen.

Matt smiled as he raised his foot in the air before using all of his strength to kick the doors open. "KNOCK! KNOCK, FUCKERS!" he shouts.

Tyrone immediately began firing his PKM at the Timberwolves inside the base as Kwasi fired his grenade launcher at a balcony, successfully bringing it down. Because his weapon was of a short range variant, Matt had to lead the group as he got closer to the Timberwolves.

"Cry some more!" Tyrone taunts as he kills a Timberwolf, hiding behind cover.

"I'll take my men to Sight A!" Kwasi shouts under all the constant fire. "TNT! Matt! Lead yoa's to the otha' sights!"

"Roger that, general!" Matt says, firing his flamethrower.

Kwasi led his men through a door as they disappeared, leaving only Tyrone, Matt, and their men behind to go to their respective bomb sights.

"Watch me take him down!" shouts a Timberwolf as he fires his weapon over cover.

Some of the bullets hit Tyrone but only in the chest plate, so he was unharm; unfortunately, a Berserker behind him got shot and fell to the ground, though this went unnoticed by the large African-American man.

"I barely felt that!" Tyrone says, firing his PKM at the Timberwolf who shot him, killing him.

Matt fired hsi flamethrower at a group of Timberwolves all grouped together, having not noticed his existence. "I'm gonna put you in my oven!" Matt taunts. The Timberwolves all screamed in agonizing pain before they fell down to the ground, dead, their skin all burnt and crisp. "Burn! Burn! Ahahaaaaaaa!" Matt laughed maniacally.

"Here comes da boom!" shouts a Timberwolf as he threw a grenade.

The grenade landed near Tyrone and Matt, prompting them to move away; a Berserker suddenly landed right on top of the grenade, using his body as cover. The grenade suddenly exploded, killing the Berserker instantly as blood splattered everywhere. Matt and Tyrone continued to fight their way towards the stairs, successfully pushing back the Timberwolves.

"I'm gon' rip you t' pieces!" shouts a Timberwolf as he charges his way towards the group with a machete.

He slammed the blade of the machete on top of Berserker's head, killing him as he pulled the machete out of his skull. Tyrone suddenly swung his PKM at the Timberwolf, knocking him to the ground as a Berserker shot the down Timberwolf in the back, killing him. The entire front area was thoroughly cleaned out as every Timberwolf retreated deeper into the factory.

"We're gettin' pushed back! We can't let dem through!" shouts a Timberwolf.

"What is going on?!"

"Does anyone know wat is happening?!"

"Up the stairs!" Tyrone orders.

Tyrone and Matt walked up the stairs as the Berserkers followed closely behind them; as they turned the corner, they were immediately greeted by a barrage of bullets, though it did no damage. "Is that all you got?!" Tyrone asks as he fires his own weapon.

A few Timberwolves dropped dead in the hallway as the rest retreated into various rooms. A few of them got shot by the Berserkers before they could enter the room. The two bomb squad leaders lead the group down the hall as Matt kicks down a door, revealing a large group of Timberwolves behind, before firing his flamethrower at them.

"Hot enough?! Hahahahahahaaa!" Matt laughs underneath his mask, watching as the Timberwolves all died slow and painfully.

Tyrone and Matt lead their men down the hallway as they turned the corner, seeing more Timberwolves all hiding in cover.

"Dere dey are! Kill 'em!" shouts a Timberwolf.

They all began firing their weapons as a few Berserkers and Timberwolves began to run up to each other for some close quarter combat. A few bullets hit Matt's and Tyrone's protective armor, but did nothing. Tyrone retaliated as he fired his PKM at the group, either killing them or wounding them.

"I wonder how the others are doing outside!" Matt shouts under all the gunfire.

"I'm sure they're doing alright!" Tyrone shouts back.

* * *

A Timberwolf ran up to his target only to immediately get gunned down by the Berserkers. Jake and Louis entered the infirmary with Bernard and a few Berserkers behind them. "Destroy the infirmary!" Jake ordered. "Take our anyone inside!"

"I find it ironic we're killing people in an infirmary." Louis states, entering the room.

He quickly dropped to cover as a barrage of bullets flew passed them. An unfortunate Berserker got caught in the crossfire as he fell down to the ground. Jake and Bernard joined Louis along with two other Berserkers.

"Great. We're pinned down." Jake states.

"Take care of the intruders you slackers! Cyrus will have a fit if he finds out the infirmary got taken! Kill them now or I'll kill all of you!" a female voice was heard.

Jake widened his eyes, knowing full well who that belonged to. He peeked his head out of cover to see Abigail in the back, behind several Timberwolves aiming their weapons at the cover they were hiding behind. Jake brought his head back into cover as he turned to his fellow survivors.

"It's that girl!" he whispered loudly.

Louis suddenly grabbed a grenade and pulled the pin, before throwing it over the cover. The grenade landed by a few Timberwolves' feet, alerting them of the incoming danger below them.

"Grenade! Take covah!" shouts a Timberwolf.

The grenade exploded, killing several Timberwolves in the area, granting Jake and the rest an opportunity to move forward. Jake and the rest began firing their weapons at the wounded Timberwolves as Abigail was long gone. They turned the corner only for a Berserker to get killed, prompting them to hide behind cover.

Bernard peeked his weapon out of cover and began firing it, managing to kill a few Timberwolves but wounding most of them. Those that were wounded fell to the ground in pain before they were executed by the Berserkers. They walked down the hallway as a few Timberwolves came out of the doors behind them, surprising them.

The rest of the unnamed Berserkers got killed by the Timberwolves, leaving only Bernard, Jake, and Louis alice. The three of them quickly took out the Timberwolves that killed their guys before moving on ahead.

"Bernard," Jake suddenly says. "go to where we agreed to plant the bomb. And be careful with it. That thing is sensitive."

"I'd never thought I would be fightin' in a war again but here I am." Bernard says to himself, splitting himself up from the group.

Jake and Louis continued to match their way down the hallway, hearing the various shouts from both their enemies and their allies outside. At that moment, a Timberwolf came charging towards them with a bat laced with barbed wire. However, he was suddenly taken out by Jake, who shot him point blank with his shotgun. After checking each of the rooms, they came across the final door at the end of the hallway.

They leaned against the wall on both sides of the door as Jake held up five fingers. Louis suddenly grabbed a grenade and pulled the lever, now priming the explosive. Jake began to lower each finger until there was none left; Louis quickly opened the door and threw the grenade inside before closing it, holding it in place. After a few seconds of nothing, they heard an explosion, signaling them that it was alright for them to enter.

However, as they entered, they saw that the room was completely empty. No sight of a Timberwolf in the small room at all, which confused the two survivors.

"What the hell?" Louis questions.

"We checked all the rooms." Jake says.

Unbeknownst to them, Abigail was actually hiding behind the door with a hunting knife in her hand. She began to slowly creep her way towards the unsuspecting survivors.

"Where is she?" Jake asks. He suddenly turned around to see Abigail sneaking up on Louis. "BEHIND YOU!" he shouts at the top of his lungs.

Louis turned around only to get stabbed in the stomach by Abigail, causing him to gasp. He dropped his weapon as Abigail pulled out her knife before kicking Louis away. She rushed forward so fast that Jake didn't have time to fire his gun. She knocked the gun out of his hand and went in for the kill. However, Jake managed to catch the knife as the two got in a stalemate, both struggling over control of the knife.

"You'll die now!" Abigail grunts.

"No… I… WON'T!" Jake shouts.

He suddenly head butted her, causing her to lose her balance as Jake pushed the knife right into her throat. With the knife in her throat, Abigail began to quickly die as she fell backwards, passing away. Jake looked down to see Louis struggling for his life as blood poured out of his wound.

"Louis." Jake says as he crouches down to face his friend.

"J… Jake." Louis stammeringly whispers.

"I'm right here, Louis. Stay with me." he tells his friend. "We're in the infirmary so I can get you patched up."

"No… Leave." Louis tells him.

Jake felt hot tears in his eyes, watching his friend die before him. "Why?" he croaks, obviously holding back tears.

"B-... Because… Y- You won't have time… to make it out." Louis tells him.

"Louis, come on man." Jake tells him.

"Thanks… for being such… a good friend."

With that, Louis took his final breath as he closed his eyes, passing away from his wounds. Jake stares at Louis' corpse as tears ran down his cheeks. He began to silently cry to himself as his dead friend lied before him. Behind him, Bernard was looking at the entire scene unfold, knowing how Jake was feeling.

"Jake." he calls out, startling the poor guy. "I know you're going through a lot right now but we got to go."

"No… No, I understand." Jake suddenly stood up as he looked at his dead friend's corpse. "Goodbye… old friend." he says.

With that, Jake and Bernard ran out of the room and into the hallway, making their way back to the exit. They exited the building on time just for it to explode, sending debris flying everywhere as smoke flew into the air.

"Ooh! Oh! Oh man! I ain't run like that in years." Bernard says, catching his breath.

"Louis was dumb but he meant well. He had a good heart. He didn't deserve to die." Jake says as he looks down. "Now I understand how you felt when you lost Cheryl."

"It never gets easier, youngin'." Bernard tells Jake. "But at least he's in a better place now."

Louis couldn't help but smile at his optimism. "Yeah… Yeah, he is." he agrees.

* * *

Elsewhere, Camryn witnessed the explosion happen as she saw smoke rise into the air behind the factory. "That's the infirmary!" she shouts. "How are you guys doing on the armory?"

Hunter suddenly ran out of the armory along with some other Berserker soldiers. "Ruuun! She's gonna blow!" he shouts.

Hunter, Camryn, and every other Berserker in the area ran into cover as a huge explosion shot up into the air, quaking the ground. They peeked their heads out of cover to see the remnants of the armory; Camryn suddenly turned around to see a large horde of walkers walking into the base through the huge hole they made that was once the front gates.

"Walkers!" she shouts.

A walker grabbed an unsuspecting Berserker from behind and sunk its teeth into his neck, dragging him down onto the ground. Now the already chaotic battlefield just turned more chaotic as both the Berserkers and Timberwolves were fighting each other as well as the walkers. A few Berserkers and Timberwolves got overwhelmed with the oncoming walkers as they backed into the Well of Souls, where they got eaten alive by the large amount of walkers in the pit.

"I'll handle them!" Hunter shouts. "You take care of the rest of the Timberwolves!"

Hunter ran off with some Berserkers as they began to kill some walkers infiltrating the fortress. Camryn quickly turned around as she started sprinting towards the enemy.

A Timberwolf approached a charging Berserker, aiming his rifle as he unloaded a few rounds into his chest, killing the Berserker. The Timberwolf turned around only to be impaled by a machete from Camryn, killing him, as she threw the body on the ground.

"You traitor!" shouts a voice.

Camryn turned to the side to see her former Timberwolf comrade whom she always insulted: Charlie. He discarded his rifle that he was holding as he pulled out a kukuri. Camryn had to admit, even though he was a Timberwolf, he was honorable as he discarded a lethal weapon knowing she was unarmed. She gripped her machete as the two glared into each other's eyes, circling each other as they waited for the other to make the first move.

Camryn was the first to make the first move as she swung her machete, to which Charlie blocked it with his own kukuri. She went for an attack at the waist only for Charlie to block that as well before he suddenly kicked her to the ground. She quickly stood back up as Charlie went in for an attack but fortunately for her, she blocked the attack as she punched Charlie right in the face. The Timberwolf wiped some blood from his nose as he got back in another fight stance.

"You were one of us and you betrayed us." Charlie told Camryn.

"I told you, the Timberwolves weren't for me! The only reason I joined was for protection! I never liked how they worked!" Camryn tells him.

"We work better in a group. The Timberwolves gave us all homes. We were your family and you left us."

"You gave me no choice. We killed innocent people for stupid reasons!"

"Survival is not stupid! It's a necessity. I don't like fighting you, Camryn. You may have gotten on my nerves but you were still my ally."

Camryn suddenly thrusted her foot as she tried to kick him, only for him to block it by swinging his knife at her boot. Charlie suddenly swung his knife only for Camryn to block it before he went in for another swing and just like before, she blocked it. Charlie thrusted his knife towards her only for Camryn to punch his arm away before punching his face, knocking him back a little. Charlie stumbled as he rubbed the part of his face that she punched.

"Do you know how it feels to be betrayed by your ally? It feels horrible." Charlie tells you.

"We shouldn't have killed so many people. It was wrong." Camryn tells her.

"It was all about survival."

"Yeah? Is that what this is? Taking away lives, my life, for survival? You guys brought this onto yourselves."

"I take no pleasure in this. Really I don't!"

Charlie suddenly thrusted his knife towards her waist only for her to block his arm; he suddenly grabbed one of her arms as he tried to slice her face with his kukuri. Camryn however placed her hand on his elbow, stopping the attack as she jabbed her machete into his shoulder blade. He backed up a bit as he placed his hand over his stab wound before regaining his composure.

"When Cyrus finds out you betrayed us, there won't be anything left of you." Charlie threatens her.

"Cyrus will be dead by then." Camryn replies.

He raised his kukuri in the air before swinging it down only for Camryn to block it with her machete. However, he swung it again but Camryn was lucky enough to block it once more. She tried to kick him only for him to dodge out of the way; he did a spin as he swiped his leg against her ankle, tripping her to the ground. She looked up to see Charlie raising his kukuri in the air before slamming it down. Fortunately for her, she moved out of the way in time just as the blade stabbed the ground, mere inches away from her face. She tried to slash her knife against his ankles but he moved out of the way, dodging it on time; Camryn used this opportunity to get back up on her feet as the two were now circling each other again.

"You know what the saying of the Timberwolves, Camryn. We are Cyrus and we are alive. As long as one of us lives, Cyrus will live within us." Charlie says.

"Then we'll kill all of you so there won't be any of you left you monsters." Camryn responds.

Camryn swung her machete as Charlie blocked it before swinging it again only for him to block it as well. The sound of metal clanking each other could be heard in the middle of their heated knife fight. As Camryn went in to stab Charlie once more, the Timberwolf suddenly grabbed her arm and pinned it to her body. However, Camryn used her free arm to grab Charlie's arm, freeing the arm that was pinned before using that arm to slam it onto Charlie's back, forcing him to look down.

She suddenly kicked the back of his knee, causing him to trip and fall to the ground; Camryn went in to stab Charlie that was on the ground only for the Timberwolf to kick her hand away, knocking her knife out of her hand. He then thrusted a powerful kick to the face as she fell to the ground behind her. She looked up to see Charlie standing over her, the kukuri in his hands. Camryn was defenseless and she knew she was done for, she knew that he would stab her and kill her right then and there.

However, Charlie _didn't_ stab her and instead walked over to her machete that got thrown out of her hand and picked it up. He approached her once more and threw the machete by her side before walking away, a move that surprised Camryn. She picked up the machete and got back on her feet, shooting the Timberwolf a confused look.

"I'm an honorable fighter and killing you while you were defenseless goes against my morals." he says.

"Then why did you kill those innocent people who were defenseless as well?" Camryn asks, sensing some hypocrisy.

"I never killed unarmed people. The others did! I believe in an honorable fight and I will honor that type of fight!"

Camryn charged forward as she thrusted her machete at him once more; however, just like before, Charlie blocked the knife and kicked her away, sending her to the ground again. However, this time, she managed to keep her machete in her hand. She turned around to see Charlie rushing towards her, causing her blood to pump with even more adrenaline. Charlie went to slash her head but Camryn ducked just in time as she jabbed her machete into the side of his abdomen.

Charlie gasped as his eyes widened, feeling short on breath all of a sudden; Camryn suddenly grabbed his kukuri right out of his hand and jabbed it right into his chest before kicking him away. Charlie's corpse lied on the ground as Camryn pulled out her machete from Charlie's abdomen before turning to his AK-47 that he threw on the ground before the fight. She walked over to it and grabbed it, cocking the gun as she blew a breath of air. She walked away from Charlie's corpse as she continued on with her objective in her mind.

* * *

Several Timberwolves ran out of the room completely on fire as their screams echoed through the empty hall. Matt turned the corner followed by Tyrone and several Berserkers behind them. About three Timberwolf came out of the room only to be met by fire as Matt fired his flamethrower at them.

"I want to hear your flesh sizzle!" Matt maliciously says under his gas mask.

The group made their way into the hallway until they came to a fork in the road, figuratively speaking. "This is where I need to go." Tyrone spoke up. "Good luck, Matt."

Tyrone turned the corner as his bomb squad of Berserkers followed him. "I don't need luck! I got a flamethrower! Ahahahahaaahaaaa!" Matt laughed.

Matt led his own men down the hallway until he came across a pair of double doors; he quickly kicked the door down, revealing a large room filled with unsuspecting Timberwolves.

"Hmmmm! Fresh meat! Daahahahahahahahahaahaaaahaaaa!" Matt laughed maniacally.

He began firing his flamethrower as the Berserkers behind him did the same, killing some Timberwolves as they all scattered to some form of cover. As the Timberwolves all ran into cover, they began shouting various things out loud in the air for everyone to hear.

"It's Matthew! Kill him!"

"Fuck all of you! I want dat kill!"

"Your head is mine, Cinderella!"

"My name ain't Matthew. It's Matilda! NOW LET ME HEAR YOU SCREAM AS I ROAST YOU ALIVE LIKE A GOAT IN A FURNACE!" Matt shouts back.

He pulled the trigger of his flamethrower, engulfing the Timberwolves in front of him with fire. A few Berserkers ran forward as they stabbed the guys on fire, pinning them down to the ground as a few of them fired their shotguns at the Timberwolves hiding in cover. Various shots could be heard from the Timberwolves that were all pinned in cover, not wanting to get near Matt with his ballistic body armor and flamethrower.

"Fuck! So many bodies!"

"Fire! FIRE!"

"I like my meat well done!" Matt taunted underneath his mask as he continued to burn more Timberwolves to death. "Ahahahaha! AHAHAHAHAAHA! BURN BABY, BURN! HAHAHAHAAAAA!"

"We Berserkers never back down!" shouts a Berserker as he shoots the head off of a Timberwolf.

"Ohohoo! You guys are gonna shit your pants. HAHAHAA!" Matt laughed some more.

* * *

While Matt was busy dealing with burning Timberwolves alive, Tyrone was leading his men to a different room that appeared to be a lounging area. Tyrone continued to fire his PKM at the many Timberwolves in the area while some of the Berserkers either got shot and wounded/killed or picked off some of their own targets.

"No bullets can't touch me!" Tyrone says underneath his welder mask.

Eventually, the room was clear of Timberwolves as the group made their way to the next room. "Okay!" a Berserker suddenly says. "This is the room where we need to be in. TNT, can you defend us while we plant the bombs?"

"You don't even need to ask twice. I got this covered." Tyrone responded.

The group of Berserkers ran into the room, leaving Tyrone alone in the middle of the hallway. At that moment, a pair of double doors opened up as Tyrone readied his trigger finger, ready to pick off some more Timberwolves. However, only one single, muscular Timberwolf came out of the doors, and his name was Lockjaw.

"So," Lockjaw began. "you're the guy I heard the guys talk about. Also heard there was a pyromaniac in here as well. You might look tough, but under that body armor, I bet you're just some scared kid."

Tyrone lifted up his welder mask. "Let me guess, Lockjaw?" he asks, earning a nod from him.

Tyrone smirked as he quickly took off the welder mask and threw it to the ground. He suddenly began to strip off his armor before throwing it on the ground, now completely defenseless. Tyrone cracked his knuckles and his neck, prepared for the battle ahead.

"When I heard how you were some strong guy that took over 100 lives, all I ever wanted was to fight you." he says. "Now it looks like I got my chance. I'm a fair player so no weapons or armor from me. Just a good old fashioned fist fight. That sounds good, chump?"

Lockjaw crashed his knuckles together as he cracked his neck. "Wouldn't have it any other way." he says.

The two began to circle each other as Tyrone took off his shirt, showing his build that appeared to be a combination of fat and muscle. It was Lockjaw who made the first move as he placed his arms on Tyrone's shoulders, to which he did the same. The two quickly got in a stalemate as they began to try and get the upper hand with each other. Lockjaw suddenly grabbed Tyrone's waist and lifted him up before slamming him down onto the ground. The former wrestling pro got on top of Tyrone and put him in a headlock, his wrestling instincts kicking in.

Tyrone suddenly pushed himself up, knocking Lockjaw off of him as he landed right on top of him. The large black man then got on top of Lockjaw and began pulling his arms, hoping to force Lockjaw to admit defeat. Unfortunately, Lockjaw used all of his strength to pull his arms out of Tyrone's grasp and elbow him right in the face, knocking him backwards.

The two quickly got back up on their feet as they began circling each other once more, waiting for the other to make another move. This time, it was Tyrone who made the move as he grabbed Lockjaw's waist and delivered a suplex, slamming on the floor behind him. Lockjaw screamed in pain as Tyrone jogged away, waiting for his opponent to pick himself up. There was some blood on the marble floor as Lockjaw relocated his shoulder back into place, glaring daggers at Tyrone.

The two charged at each other as Lockjaw got Tyrone in a side headlock, getting on his knees as he tightened his grip. Tyrone forced himself back on his feet as he began to make Lockjaw move by charging both of them into the wall. As soon as they crashed into the wall, Lockjaw lost his grip on Tyrone, prompting the large black man to throw Lockjaw into the opposite wall, where he crashed into a shelf. Lockjaw spat out some blood as he charged his way to his opponent, getting into another stalemate.

However, Tyrone ducked during the stalemate as he went under Lockjaw's crotch before lifting him up and slamming his opponent to the ground behind him. Lockjaw yelled in pain as Tyrone got on top of him; at that moment, the large black man began to lay down a barrage of powerful punches to Lockjaw's face, bruising it as blood began to seep out of his wounds. After a whole minute of the violent assault, Tyrone picked himself up as he looked at his job, noting how Lockjaw's entire face was bruised, having a black eye and missing a few teeth.

Tyrone wiped some sweat off of him as he walked over to his armor, not wanting to put it back on because he was already sweating but knowing full well he would have to. He suddenly heard grunting coming from behind him, prompting him to turn around. Ther, he saw Lockjaw picking himself back up, spitting a tooth out of his mouth as he glared sharp daggers at Tyrone. He yelled as he charged his way towards Tyrone; fortunately for Tyrone, he laid out a single, powerful blow to the face, knocking Lockjaw out and down onto the ground.

Tyrone looked at the unconscious man before him, cracking his knuckle. "I haven't fought like that since the high school wrestling team." Tyrone got on one knee as he looked at Tyrone's unconscious face. "You were a worthy opponent, Lockjaw. But unfortunately, you lost. You put up a good fight, buddy. Good game."

Tyrone got back up on his feet as he walked over to his armor, quickly putting it back on. Right at that moment, the Berserkers that ran into the room came running out. "TNT! We're moving! Let's go!" exclaimed one of the Berserkers.

Tyrone, now back in his armor, ran as fast as he could in his armor, leaving the unconscious Lockjaw in the hallway.

* * *

"Time for your cremation!" Matt taunted as he continued to fire his flamethrower at the enemy.

"Fuck me!" shouts a Timberwolf as he ducked his head back in cover.

At that moment, Chatterbox entered the room, holding his medieval mace in their hand with their cassette tape in the other. _~There appears to be an unwanted guest in the area. Please evacuate, immediately.~_ Chatterbox's cassette tape says.

"Hey, Cinderella." Cyrus' voice was heard over the speaker. "I know how you're feeling. You can feel the anger inside you, boiling up inside, no longer able to contain it. Don't worry. It gets better in the end. Now hurry up and get over here! I'm starting to lose my patience!"

"You can't hide from me, Cinderella!" shouts a Timberwolf from cover.

"Matt!" shouts a Berserker behind him. "This is our stop! Are you coming?"

"You go on ahead!" Matt tells them. "I got personal business to take care of."

"Good luck!"

With that, the Berserkers left the room and entered another as Matt continued on with his assault. Matt kept on firing his flamethrower all around him, burning the Timberwolves to death. He turned the corner only to hit in the face by a medieval mace, knocking him back a bit. The person who hit him was revealed to be Chatterbox, whom began to unload their entire clip from their M1911 onto his fuel tank. Matt quickly turned around and fired his flamethrower at the masked sociopath.

"You want to join my barbecue, too?" Matt taunts underneath his gas mask.

Chatterbox's mace got torched in flames, causing them to drop it due to the extreme heat the metal was radiating. They turned around and ran through some doors as more of the Timberwolves continued to fire at Matt from behind. The teen turned around and pulled the trigger of his flamethrower; however, he soon realized not as much flames were coming from the nozzle. He turned to the side to see his reflection, seeing that his fuel tank was leaking out actual fire.

"Oh shit." his muffled voice was heard.

He quickly ran into cover as he began to immediately take off the fuel tank, throwing it away so he wouldn't be caught in the explosion. At that moment, a Timberwolf wielding a shotgun turned the corner, surprising Matt as he fired his gun. Matt got knocked back a bit due to the force of the shotgun, but because of his armor, he wasn't perfectly fine. He looked at the leaking fuel tank behind the Timberwolf, quickly getting an idea.

"Got you, Cinderella!" exclaimed the Timberwolf in front of him.

Matt quickly grabbed his Beretta M9 from his holster that was attached to his ballistic suit and aimed it at the fuel tank. He began firing his pistol at the fuel tank before it suddenly exploded, killing the Timberwolf in front of him and knocking him away as flames flew up in the air.

"WHAT?!" shouted an unseen Timberwolf in the room.

Matt looked up to see that his entire suit had caught on fire as debris got jabbed inside his suit. He picked himself up as he started to undress himself, the ballistic armored suit no longer useful anymore. Eventually, he got out of the suit as he threw away his gas mask and was now only in his shirt, jeans, and boots.

"And I was having so much fun as well." Matt mumbled.

"There's fire everywhere!"

"Look for Cinderella's corpse! He couldn't have survived dat explosion!"

Matt walked over to the wall and peeked his head out, seeing several Timberwolves trying to put out the flames with extinguishers. Some of them were roaming the area, in search of his 'supposedly' dead body; Matt looked down to see a knife from the Timberwolf that got killed in the explosion. He bent down and picked it up as he gripped the handle, waiting for any Timberwolf to turn the corner. Unbeknownst to him, a lurking Timberwolf was above him, having already spotted him as he held his own knife in his hand.

Matt continued to spy on the Timberwolves when he suddenly heard a faint noise above him, causing him to look up. "ALAAAAAAAAAARM!" shouts the Timberwolf as he jumped down. Matt quickly dropped his knife as he grabbed the Timberwolf's arm, struggling as he tried to fight off the man trying to stab him. "You're dead!"

Matt and the Timberwolf struggled as the two got into a stalemate, before the teen began using all of his strength to push the knife forward. Realizing he was losing, the Timberwolf turned his head to call out to his buddies. "I found him!" he shouts.

Matt pushed the knife right into the throat of the Timberwolf, causing him to gurgle before dying, collapsing onto the wall as he slid down it and onto the floor. "Cinderella is here! Kill him!" shouts a Timberwolf as everyone ran into cover. Matt grabbed his Beretta M9 before peeking out of cover to see several Timberwolves running into cover and/or towards him.

"Waste dat son of a bitch!" shouts a Timberwolf, running towards him.

Matt peeked out of cover and fired his pistol at the Timberwolf, killing him as he fell to the floor. More Timberwolves began firing from their cover as Matt grabbed the dead Timberwolf's AKM. He aimed it at a Timberwolf that had his head out of cover, firing a single shot to his head.

"You should not have fucked with me!" shouts Matt as he opens fire behind cover.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" shouts a Timberwolf, trying to dodge the bullets as he ran to cover.

Matt quickly jumped out of the barrier he was hiding behind and quickly hid behind a container.

"You can't win, Cinderella!" shouts a Timberwolf.

Matt, without peeking his head, began to blindly shoot his AKM out of cover, hitting a Timberwolf in the knee as he fell down.

"AGH! I'm hit!" shouted the wounded Timberwolf.

An ally of his quickly ran to him, a syringe in his hand. "It's not time for you to die yet, asshole." says the Timberwolf as he helped his friend.

The two Timberwolves were suddenly shot by Matt, killing the two of them. He quickly hid behind his cover again as a barrage of bullets whizzed passed him. He used this opportunity to reload his gun, hearing the grunting of the dying Timberwolves he shot.

"Having a good day?!" Matt asks rhetorically.

A Timberwolf suddenly pulled the pin of his grenade and threw it. "Here's a grenade for you, asshole!" he shouts.

The grenade landed right next to Matt, which gave him two options: run or throw the grenade back. He chose the latter.

"Hier! Du hast das fallen lassen, Arschloch! (Here! You dropped this, asshole!)" Matt shouted in German.

He threw the grenade back at the Timberwolf that threw it at him, which landed by his feet.

"Holy fuck! He threw it back!" the Timberwolf shouted.

But it was too late, as the grenade exploded, killing the Timberwolf and anyone nearby. Matt used this as a way to move forward, noticing a Timberwolf that was suffering from shell shock. As he ran, he didn't waste time to stop as he just sprayed his bullets at the stunned Timberwolf, killing him.

"Stay down!" he shouts at the dead Timberwolf.

Matt turned the corner and burst through the doors, sliding behind a stack of crates. Almost immediately, bullets were heard being fired as they flew passed him, as various shouts from the enemy were heard in the large room.

"Fight me like a man, pussy!"

"Stop him from moving forward you assholes!"

_~I'm sorry. This area is for authorized personnel only. Please find the nearest exit and safely leave the area. Thank you.~_ says a female automated voice.

Matt looked out of his cover to see Chatterbox at the very end of the room, surrounded by Timberwolves.

"That dude again." Matt mumbles to himself. He suddenly ducked back into cover as more bullets flew passed him. "I'll cut off your fucking head!" he shouts.

"Yo, Matt. You can't get away from me, man!" exclaims a random Timberwolf.

"Come on! Test me! Test me!" he dared the Timberwolves.

Matt peeked out of cover and began firing his AKM, managing to hit a few Timberwolves as they fell to the ground. He then saw a large gas tank, sparking an idea in his head; he aimed his rifle at the gas tank and unloaded half of a clip to it before it exploded. The explosion sent some Timberwolves flying while engulfing others in flames as they began screaming.

"It's just one scrawny guy! How is he kickin' our asses?!" shouts a Timberwolf in the back.

"You guys are useless! You can't do anythin' right!" shouted another Timberwolf.

Matt ran out of cover and moved forward, hiding behind a wall as a Timberwolf ran passed him on fire. A few bullets whizzed passed him as he moved his head out of cover before returning back behind the wall.

"Stop wasting bullets and hit me already!" he shouts at them.

"You're a dead man, Cinderella!" shouts a Timberwolf.

Matt grabbed a grenade that was on the holster of a dead Timberwolf, pulling the pin and throwing it out of cover. "Hier! Ein Geschenk vom der Berserkerarmee! (Here! A present from the Berserker army!)" he shouts.

He threw the grenade which landed on top of a balcony by a Timberwolf sniper. The sniper looked down to see the grenade by his feet, alerting him as he ran away.

"What?! Grenade?!" he shouts in a panicked tone, running away.

The grenade exploded as it took out the balcony, crushing any Timberwolves that were below it, killing them. A few Timberwolves continued to fire their weapons at Matt while Chatterbox ran out of the room and into the next.

"MMMRRAAAAAAAAAGH!" Matt growls, unloading a clip onto the remaining Timberwolves. "I like it up close and personal!"

The whole room was now empty as Matt was the sole survivor of the firefight. The Timberwolf sniper however fell off the balcony and into the fire below. Matt marched his way into the room that Chatterbox was in, kicking down the door as he aimed his rifle at Chatterbox, whom was trying to open a door.

"Where's Cyrus?!" Matt shouts, aiming his rifle at the masked survivor.

Chatterbox turned around, their bloody rabbit mask staring into Matt. However, the teen didn't appear to be affected by the mask sociopath's scary mask, as he only got angry at the fact that he wasn't answering.

"Where is he?" he asks again in a more calm tone that was hiding his anger..

In response to his, the masked survivor whipped out their medieval mace and quickly disarmed Matt by swinging their mace right into his assault rifle, knocking it out of his hands. Matt turned to the gun that slid across the room before turning back to Chatterbox, whom tilted their masked head as they stared creepily at Matt. The rubber rabbit mask's eyes following Matt along the tilt. The hardened survivor still had no reaction to the masked sociopath as Chatterbox pulled out their cassette tape.

_~Please fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride. The following presentation is not suitable for minors. Viewers discretion is advised. Thank you.~_

"I'll say it's not suitable for minors." Matt muttered to himself.

Chatterbox made the first move as they rushed towards Matt, raising their mace in the air; the long haired survivor quickly ducked out of the way on time before catching the mace's handle. Before he could even make a move on the masked survivor, his opponent swung his mace arm around so that Matt was forced to loosen his grip. Chatterbox's arm was now wrapped around Matt's arm while they continued to grip onto their weapon. Chatterbox used their free arm and began punching Matt repeatedly in the face, resulting in several bruises and a nose bleed. Before Chatterbox could throw in another punch, Matt spat onto Chatterbox's mask, a heat of the moment decision. However, he briefly forgot that his masked was covering his eyes, which pretty much made his improvised tactic useless.

The masked survivor quickly threw Matt into a wall where he broke a shelf upon impact; as Chatterbox marched their towards Matt, the long haired survivor saw pieces of the shelf he hit before quickly grabbing one of said pieces. When they were close, Matt swung the piece of debris into Chatterbox's leg, causing them to kneel down momentarily. Matt used this oppurtunity and quickly latched both of his legs around Chatterbox's neck before slamming down both his legs, bringing Chatterbox's face towards the ground. A split second before his legs impacted the ground, he retracted the leg that was in front of Chatterbox's face so it wouldn't get crushed by their face. Chatterbox's head was slammed right into the concrete floor, resulting in an aduible BONG sound that was heard inside the small room.

Matt rapidly performed a kip-up to quickly get himself back onto his feet before turning to the masked survivor who was rubbing his masked head. He wasted no time in grabbing Chatterbox by the back of their collar and picking them up. He suddenly shoved their masked face into the doorway window, resulting in smashing right throught eh window. He did the same thing to the other door window before tossing Chatterbox away from him, where they briefly bumped into some crates and boxes. Matt marched his way towards Chatterbox as they swung their mace, only for Matt to use his arm to block the mace mid swing by pinning his own arm against Chatterbox's swinging arm.

He quickly wrapped his arm around Chatterbox's arm, much like Chatterbox did the same earlier, nad began twisting it, resulting in their right shoulder being dislocated. Matt wasted no time in karate chopping Chatterbox right int he side of their neck, momentarily paralyzing and stunning them as their body went limp. Matt let go of their arms as their limp body fell to the floor; knowing his opponent was momentarily stunned, Matt walked over to his assault rifle that was knocked out of his hands earlier int he fight. He bent down, picked up the rifle, and walked back towards the downed Chatterbox; as soon as he neared them, Chatterbox regained their composure as went in to grab their mace only to be kicked in the head by Matt, halting their movements.

"Ich möchte deinen Körper jetzt so sehr mit diesem Flammenwerfer verbrennen. (I want to burn your body with that flamethrower so badly right now.)" Matt mumbled in German. "I'm gona ask you again: Where is Cyrus?" he asks in an intimidating, impaitient voice.

Chatterbox reached for their cassette tape atached to their belt and pulled it out, before pushing a button again.. _~If you would like to speak to the manager, please call-~_

Matt swiped the cassette tape out of their hands befor dropping it to the ground smashing it with his boot afterwards. He slammed the butt of his gun into Chatterbox's face, slightly knocking their rabbit mask off their face. Matt grabbed the mask and ripped it off of their face before grabbing their collar and pinning them to the wall, finally realizing what their face looked like. Chatterbox appeared to be a young man, no older than 25, with short, combed brown hair and a shaven face. Chatterbox had a scared expression on their face as Matt pinned them to the wall even harder.

"I'm beginning to lose my patience. WHERE THE FUCK IS HE?!" he shouts.

Chatterbox refused to answer, hardening their expression as they no longer felt fear. Matt completely lost his patience as he threw Chatterbox to the ground. The mute sociopath began to pick themselves up until Matt slammed the butt of his gun onto their face before kicking them in the gut, earning a groan from them. Matt placed his AKM around his back as he began to punch Chatterbox repeatedly in the face, his anger clearly visible.

"WHERE. THE FUCK. IS. CYRUS?!" he shouts.

Chatterbox coughed as he pointed to the door he was trying to open. "T-There." he says in a high pitch tone, those being his first words heard by anyone ever.

Matt turned to the door and aimed his rifle at the doorknob, firing a bullet into it as it broke the lock. Unfortunately, the gun jammed at the last second, but not before succeeding on blowing off the doorknob. Realizing the gun was useless at this point, Matt threw the gun away. He turned around to see Chatterbox trying to pick themselves up. He suddenly grabbed his Beretta M9 and slammed the butt of the gun across their face, knocking them back down to the ground. He cocked the gun and aimed it right at the head of Chatterbox.

"Hey. Look at me. Look me in the eye." he calmly ordered. Chatterbox looked up, a scared expression on their face. Matt showed no emotion as he scowled at the Timberwolf below him. "Cyrus just got you killed." he says.

He pulled the trigger, sending a bullet into Chatterbox's temple, killing them instantly. Matt turned around and kicked the door off it's hinges, prepared to face Cyrus once and for all. Without a second thought, he ran through the door and into the hallway, one step closer to the final battle.

* * *

A Berserker charged his spear right into a Timberwolf as he pinned him to the ground before stabbing him in the head. He yelled out a war cry as he went to charge something else, revealing Hunter and Jaren fighting the walkers behind them. Hunter was firing his AK-47 at the heads of the walkers while Jaren was just simply firing at their chests. Unbeknownst to Hunter, a walker was approaching him from behind, as it placed its hands on his shoulders. Hunter screamed as he tried to fight the walker off, until something stabbed the top of the head of the walker, killing it.

The former ghost hunter turned around to see Camryn pulling her machete out of the skull of the walker, swishing it around to get rid of any excess blood. "We're gonna get overrun soon." she says, before stabbing another walker in the head.

Hunter fired his rifle at a group of walkers. "We'll find a way out." he reassures the Filipina.

At that moment, the front doors of the factory that was on fire opened, revealing Tyrone, Kwasi, and a number of Berserkers. There appeared to be a smaller number of Berserkers that came out as opposed to when they went in.

"Where's Matt?" Camryn asks, realizing her friend wasn't with them.

"We thought he was out here with you guys." Tyrone says.

"He must still be taking care of Cyrus." Hunter theorizes.

"E betta' a'wy. Those bombs will go off any minute now!" Kwasi reveals.

"Fuck him! Asshole deserves to die." Jaren replies, shooting a walker.

Camryn turned around and glared at him before placing her hand on his shoulder and turning him around. All of a sudden, she threw a powerful punch right to his face, knocking him down to the ground as his nose began bleeding.

"Shut up, Jaren!" Camryn shouts in anger. She then turned back to the factory, a worried expression on her face. "Please be safe, Matt." she says to herself.

* * *

Matt burst through Cyrus' office door as he aimed his Beretta M9 all around him. "Cyrus! Where are you?!" he shouts, walking into the room. "Come out and face me!"

He continued to search through the room, trying to find his arch nemesis as hard as he could. He glanced at Cyrus' office chair before taking a look outside, seeing a raging battle between walkers, Berserkers, and Timberwolves going on out there. At that moment, he heard footsteps behind him, causing him to turn around to face whoever was sneaking up behind him. Sure enough, it was the man he was looking for.

"Hey, Matty. You miss me?" Cyrus asks as he smacks the butt of his gun across Matt's face.

Matt's vision went black as he fell backwards, falling unconscious.

* * *

Matt groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, seeing nothing but a dark void that was a combination of the colors dark red, purple, and black. He picked himself up as he stared at the empty void before looking at his hands; however, something unusual was up with his hands. He started to examine his surroundings, noticing several large faces of both walkers and humans plastered in the distance.

"What the fffffffffuck?" Matt asks. He looked down, realizing that he was on the same path made out of corpses once more. "What the hell?!"

Seeing how there was nowhere left to go, Matt started to walk on the path made out of dead bodies. All of a sudden, flames shot from his left side as a person suddenly appeared. The person that appeared from the flames was revealed to be Cyrus as he was currently standing over a survivor with a gun in his hand.

"_We're meant to evolve! To adapt! This apocalypse is the perfect solution!"_ Cyrus' voice was heard all around him.

All of a sudden, Cyrus' entire body began to twitch as it turned to static for a brief second. Afterwards, his body shifted and turned itself into Matt right as he pulled the trigger, executing the survivor. After the execution, Cyrus' body returned to normal before he suddenly disappeared. Matt continued to walk down the same path before flames shot up once more, this time on the right side of him.

The flames disappeared as Cyrus appeared right after them again; the Timberwolf leader was revealed to be fighting a survivor, both weaponless. At that moment, Cyrus grabbed the throat of the survivor and threw him on the ground, towering over him as he hovered his hand over his knife.

_"If you don't have what it takes, unfortunately for you, you won't last long in this world."_

All of a sudden, Cyrus' body turned into Matt himself once again, just as he planted the knife right in the face of the survivor he just threw on the ground. Right after that, his body returned to normal before disappearing into the void. After the flames dispersed, Cyrus was revealed to be behind them once more. This time, however, Cyrus was seen standing over a woman lying on a couch, a knife in his hand. Unlike before, he had a sad expression on his face, totally out of character as opposed to his psychotic persona.

_"You felt like you made a sin. Like you just spat in the face of God."_

Cyrus' body changed back into Matt as he slit the throat of the woman that was lying on the couch, killing her. Immediately afterwards, Matt turned back into Cyrus as he suddenly disappeared. Matt continued to walk down the makeshift path made out of corpses until he came across a few steps of stairs. As he walked up the small flight of steps, he saw a mirror just randomly standing there in the middle of the area. As he approached it, smoke suddenly dispersed in the mirror until finally, his reflection was shown.

However, it wasn't his reflection, but instead, it was Cyrus, standing in front of him. What was more strange was that Cyrus was mimicking his own movements, as if Cyrus was his reflection to start with. Creeped out by the reflection, Matt went in to touch the mirror. As soon as the tip of his finger touched it, the mirror suddenly shattered into many pieces as Cyrus emerged from it, grabbing onto him and pulling him inside the mirror. Matt struggled in Cyrus' tight grip as he maliciously grinned and stared into his eyes.

"Who are you, Matt?" he asks.

Cyrus suddenly pulled out his Desert Eagle and aimed it right at his head; right at the last split second, his appearance changed into Matt himself, making as if Matt was shooting himself. Then finally, he pulled the trigger as everything around him went white.

"_You are me, and I am you."_

When Matt finally opened his eyes, he realized that he was wielding his Beretta M9; he suddenly looked up to see a bunch of super walkers running towards him, all growling non stop. He aimed his Beretta M9 at the running super walkers and stared firing at their heads, killing them. He suddenly had to reload as the super walkers continued to close the gap. Determined to survive, Matt began to rapidly back up in order to not get bit, all while reloading his pistol. After finally reloading it, he continued to kill the super walkers by shooting them in their head.

After a while, he started to walk forward as more super walkers continued to run up to him. Not wanting to back away anymore, he began to rapidly fire his pistol by snapping targets to their heads, killing them. At one point, he almost got bit due to his recklessness, until he kicked the super walker off of him before unloading a bullet into its skull. He looked up to see several more super walkers running at him. However, these super walkers appeared to have been his friends, whom all turned into walkers. There was Hunter, Camryn, Bernard, Jake, and even himself, all were running towards him.

Knowing that none of this was real and instead was some sort of fever dream/hallucination, he had no qualms in killing his walker friends. However, he did hesitate for a brief second on pulling the trigger; it wasn't until the walker version of Camryn lunged at him that caused him to start firing bullets once more. The only walker that was left was the walker version of himself, until he fired the last bullet of his Beretta M9 into its head, killing it. His gun suddenly jammed, making it useless, prompting Matt to throw it away as he continued to walk down the pathway made out of corpses.

He soon came across a small platform with Cyrus standing right in the middle of it; the symbol of the Timberwolf was highlighted in the dark void behind him. "**We are the Timberwolves of this world! I am your savior in this crisis! Accept me as your true identity because we are Cyrus and we are ALIVE!"** he shouted to the dark void of a sky.

He looked down as he shot Matt a malicious grin, chuckling a bit afterwards; Matt pulled out his knife and rushed forward towards Cyrus. He raised the knife in the air and slashed it down, only for Cyrus to block the attack. The Timberwolf leader suddenly punched Matt right in the face, knocking him back as he let go of the knife. Matt wiped away some blood as he opened his eyes, seeing Cyrus holding his knife that he stole from him. The Timberwolf leader charged at the teen and raised his knife, ready to attack and kill Matt.

The teen however thought quickly on his feet as he rolled forward, barely getting hit by the knife. As Matt regained his composure, he turned around to see that Cyrus had his own knife still in his holster. Desperately needing a weapon, Matt quickly stole Cyrus' knife from his holster and backed up rapidly, almost falling in the proces. The Timberwolf leader turned around as he gripped Matt's knife, while Matt gripped Cyrus' knife. The two circled each other for a few moments, waiting for one of them to make another move.

Matt made the first move as he lunged forward, slashing his knife that was blocked by Cyrus boot. He went in to slash at the Timberwolf leader again, only for Cyrus to block the attack once more. For the third time, he attacked once more, this time aiming it right at Cyrus' face. The Timberwolf leader quickly blocked the attack before wrapping his arm around his arm, ensnaring him. He used his free arm that held the knife and quickly lunged his arm forward, right toward Matt's neck.

The teen however quickly intercepted this as he grabbed Cyrus' wrist, using his free arm to push away the knife. However, because he was only using one of his arms, as the other one was being held by Cyrus, the knife only got closer and closer to his throat each second. Improvising, Matt quickly spat right in Cyrus' eye, momentarily blinding as he let go of Matt's arm to wipe away the spit. Using this open time window to his advantage, Matt punched Cyrus right in the face, knocking him backwards. He turned to the side to see the knife that was knocked out of his hand earlier lying on the ground. Bending down, he quickly picked it up and gripped the handle, before turning back to Cyrus.

Cyrus wiped away the spit as the two began circling each other once more. After a while, Cyrus swung his knife towards Matt's throat; luckily for the teen, he dodged just in time for him to slash Cyrus on the shoulder. His enemy grabbed his shoulder in pain as Matt went for another slash towards Cyrus' other shoulder. Now Matt went for the finisher, ready to plunge his knife into Cyrus' torso, only for the leader to grab his hand before he could make contact. Cyrus forcefully raised Matt's arm into the air, causing Matt to let go of the knife as he went airborne behind him.

Now it was Cyrus' turn to lunge the knife into Matt's torso, but just like before, Matt stopped it from happening. The teen used his knee to kick Cyrus in the gut, stopping his attack; he suddenly wrapped his arm around Cyrus' arm with the knife in it and lifted him up and threw him on the ground behind him. Cyrus managed to lose his grip on his own knife as it went flying into the wall behind the pair. The leader fell hard on the ground behind Matt, whom was also on the floor as well. As Matt was getting up, he felt a hand grab his shoulder, prompting him to look up. When he did, he saw Cyrus laying a punch to his face, knocking him to the ground.

While he was on the ground, Cyrus walked up to the knife that got knocked out of his hand, grabbing it from the wall that it was stuck in. Matt turned around to see Cyrus tightly gripping the handle of his knife before slashing it down towards his face. Matt moved his head away on time as the knife stabbed the ground instead; he suddenly kicked Cyrus right in the face, knocking back as Matt quickly grabbed his own knife and picked himself back on his feet. The two faced each other as both of them were tightly gripping their respective knives.

Matt and Cyrus both attacked each other at the same time their knives clashing together as they got in a stalemate. Cyrus suddenly knocked Matt's hand as he forced his arm to spin around, knocking the knife right out of Matt's grip. Without a weapon, Cyrus went in for the final stab that would ultimately end the fight; however, Matt stopped the attack by grabbing Cyrus' wrist, the tip of the knife mere centimeters away from him. The teen suddenly bent Cyrus' wrist the other way, completely breaking it as the Timberwolf leader yelled in pain, dropping his knife.

Afterwards, Matt punched Cyrus right in the face, while still having a firm grip on his arm, knocking him back a bit. Matt pulled Cyrus in once more and headbutted him right in the face, this time letting go of his arm. As Cyrus backed up from the strike against his face, Matt grabbed his Desert Eagle that was in his right holster, snatching it from him. When Cyrus opened his eyes, he saw the blackness from the barrel of his gun pointing right at him, with Matt's finger close to the trigger. Cyrus' eyes widened as Matt pulled the trigger, sending a single bullet right into his chest.

Matt lowered the Desert Eagle as he watched Cyrus grow a surprised expression as he hovered his hands over his bullet wound. Blood started to soak through his black shirt, though it was unnoticeable, as he looked up at Matt. Strangely enough, he didn't have an expression of horror but instead, of contempt, as if he was alright with dying. His breathing grew heavy as he stumbled backwards, hitting the wall that was the black void behind him before sliding down. Cyrus suddenly looked up, the same calm and contempt expression plastered on his face, right into Matt's eyes.

"I had to kill my wife." he tells Matt. "Our daughter got killed and my wife got bit trying to protect her…" He took a deep, shaky breath before continuing. "She asked me to take her life away… It was the hardest decision I ever made… That night… she slept on the couch and I… I slit her throat… It wasn't until later I realized that you have to aim for the head to kill them. So my wife is still out there, one of them… I never got a chance to properly put her out of her misery… I guess… I guess this whole Timberwolf thing was a distraction from my past but at the same time… it became my future… You-... You're like me… We're both the same, Matt. You can't deny that… By killing me, you won't break the cycle… you're joining it… We… are Cyrus… and we are alive… Goodbye, Matt."

Cyrus suddenly took his last breath as he leaned to the side, his head resting against a set of pipes attached to the wall. His lifeless eyes were forever staring into the dark void that was all around Matt, not showing any signs of returning back to the land of the living. Matt continued to watch Cyrus' dead body for a while before glancing at the Desert Eagle in his hand, taking a look at the custom patterns that were etched into it. All of a sudden, he felt his entire body grow weak, his legs no longer able to support his body as they grew wobbly.

He fell forward as he lost the grip on the heavy pistol before falling to his knees. He couldn't fight fatigue anymore as he completely fell to the ground. He continued to lie on the ground, no longer able to move a muscle, as if his entire body was paralyzed. At that moment, he heard heavy footsteps approaching him from behind; all of a sudden, he felt the bottom of a boot being gently placed on his shoulder before being turned around. Above him was the same trench coat man he hallucinated the other day as well as saw him in his dream. The man smiled malicious above him as he crouched over his paralyzed body while a pistol was in his hand.

"Is this the victory you wanted?" he asks him.

He stood up and aimed his pistol right at Matt's chest; however, at the very last second, two figures suddenly appeared out of nowhere on both sides of the trench coat man, both mimicking his movements. They only appeared for a split second but Matt instantly knew who those two people were beside him.

Cyrus and himself.

The trench coat man pulled the trigger as a loud gunshot was heard before everything went white in the area, blinding Matt. After the blinding white light, Matt heard one final whisper from Cyrus that echoed all around him.

"_Who are you, Matt?"_

* * *

When Matt opened his eyes, he noticed that the ceiling was different than the office he was knocked out in. He sat up and immediately saw a bunch of dead Timberwolves all around him, blood covering the area. He turned to the side to see Cyrus' body lying right next to him; not only was the body in a different spot, but was also in a different position when he was killed.

Matt picked himself up, feeling dizzy after the whole hallucination trip or whatever, holding onto the wall for support. He looked down to see Cyrus' Desert Eagle and knife lying on the ground below him. He bent down and picked both of them up before checking the gun's chamber. So far, only one bullet was missing, which aligned with the climax of the fight. Apparently, the number of bullets that were fired seemed to be the only thing true about Matt's trippy battle with Cyrus.

All of a sudden, several explosions that shook the earth shot out from the building as the entire building got engulfed in flames. The floor that Matt was standing on suddenly gave way as Matt fell through them. Matt landed on the floor below, on top of a table as the ceiling continued to collapse onto him. At first, he thought he was hallucinating again, until his arm caught on fire. He quickly patted his arm and put the fire out before looking up.

A large piece of debris suddenly started falling towards him, prompting him to move out of the way. He fell onto the ground as the table he was on got instantly crushed by the debris. He quickly picked himself up as he turned around, seeing one of the doors get completely blocked off by debris. He had to get out of there. He started running towards an open exit that had yet to be covered in debris. All while he was running, he had trouble seeing where he was going due to the smoke all around him.

"There's fire everywhere!" he shouts.

He burst through the door and ran down the hallway, only to stop when the ceiling collapsed, blocking his path. He went through another door to see at least three Timberwolves trying to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher. Not having a weapon and not wanting to waste time, Matt ran passed them as they stared at Matt in confusion. They suddenly started running after him as the room they were in collapsed.

Matt continued to run through the large area, sliding under a table as a Timberwolf did the same. However, when he slid under the table, said table collapsed onto him, ultimately suffocating him. The second and third Timberwolf continued to give chase to him as Matt ran out of the room and turned the corner. When he did, he turned the corner once more and ran down a flight of stairs. When he got to the bottom, he heard the sound of a body crashing.

He turned around to see that one of the Timberwolves had tripped and fell down the stairs, snapping his neck in the process. The third and final Timberwolf continued to chase Matt as the two ran down the room. However, the Timberwolf proved to be faster as he grabbed Matt by the back of his collar, pulling him backwards. Matt fell to the ground as the Timberwolf got on top of him. The Timberwolf suddenly pulled out his knife and was prepared to stab Matt right in the chest.

However, Matt grabbed the Timberwolf's wrist just in time before the tip of the blade could even touch his skin. He suddenly moved to the side while simultaneously loosening his grip, causing the knife to stab the ground beside him instead. Matt suddenly hugged the Timberwolf's torso and pulled him down before wrapping his leg around the Timberwolf's left foot, trapping him. He then forced his entire body to turn, forcing the Timberwolf to turn as the tables for figuratively turned as well.

Now Matt was the one on top of the Timberwolf instead of the other way around. However, instead of using a knife, Matt grabbed the Timberwolf's head and slammed it against the concrete floor, splattering blood underneath. He continued to do this until he felt the Timberwolf's body go limp, and even then he continued to do so. The only reason he stopped was because he realized he was still in a burning building.

He quickly got off the dead Timberwolf and ran out of the turn, turning the corner in the process. There, he saw the corridor was blocked, so he went inside a room where the wall was broken. He ran through the hole in the way before running into the same hallway, this time on the opposite side of the debris. He continued to run down the hallway as he saw a window down it. Seeing no other exit, he knew this was the only one for him.

He heard more explosions from behind him, making him turn around to see the fire quickly spreading towards him. He sped up his pace as he jumped out the window, taking a risk on how high it really was. Luckily for him, he landed on the roof of the first floor before rolling off it and onto solid ground outside. Knowing he was still in the vicinity of the explosion, Matt picked himself up and quickly ran away just in time for the whole building to explode and collapse.

Matt was blown away by the shockwave as he landed in the remnants of the armory. He groaned in pain as he threw some debris off him, watching the Timberwolf factory collapse and crumble to the ground. He sat up as he watched the rest of the building fall until there was nothing left. Just a big pile of burning metal with flames rising high into the heavens. He rolled off the remnants of the armory and fell to the ground, groaning in pain before picking himself up. He looked ahead to see the remaining Berserker army fleeing out of the front gates in their vehicles. At that moment, he saw Camryn, Hunter, Bernard, and the rest run into a military jeep.

"We have to find him!" Camryn was heard shouting. "He could be alive!"

"Tha''s no way e could ave sa'vived that!" Kwasi replies.

"We need to get out of here! The whole place is getting overrun with walkers!" Tyrone shouts.

"Get in the jeep! There'll be time for grieving later!" Jaren shouts as he enters the jeep.

"Noooo! We have to find Matt!" Camryn sobs, being held back by Bernard and Hunter.

"Camryn! He's gone! He couldn't have survived that explosion!" Bernard tells her.

"I know how you're feeling but right now we need to get the fuck out of here!" Hunter shouts as he and Bernard force Camryn in the jeep.

The two got in the jeep as Jake was seen shooting a walker in the face before getting in the driver seat. He started the jeep and backed up, running over a few walkers before speeding out of the burning community. Matt picked himself up as he grabbed the knife he stole from Cyrus as a weapon. He began to limp his way towards the entrance, spotting Lockjaw stumbling his way out of the building only to be mauled to death by a pack of walkers. As he was limping, Matt spotted a lone walker feasting on the carcass of a dead Berserker. He slammed the knife on the unsuspecting walker's skull, destroying the brain and killing it.

He dragged the corpse of the dead walker and brought it behind cover; there, he stabbed the torso of the corpse and opened it. He placed the knife back in his holster as he hovered his hands over the opening of the walker's torso. It wasn't until he realized that he had wounds over his exposed parts of his body that stopped him from doing so. Realizing that if he covered himself in infected walker blood on top of open wounds, he would get infected no doubt. He turned to the side to see a large rag draping over the canopy, which sparked an idea in his head.

He pulled the large rag and stuffed as much of it inside the walker's dead body, covering it in blood, guts, and other inner organs. After soaking the entire cloth, he draped it around his body and walked out of cover, slowly walking towards the front entrance. His heartbeat was a mile per minute as he walked towards the walkers, whom were all growling loudly as they continued to pour into the remnants of the Wolf's Den.

He got inside the group as he maneuvered his way through the large horde of walkers. In combination of his entire body being reeked of walker guts as well as his limping, he was next to impossible to be caught by any of the walkers. Suddenly, a walker turned to him and stopped, growling at his face as Matt retained his calm composure.

"Matiiiiiiildaaaaaaaa." the waker growled.

Matt snapped his head to the walker, giving it a surprised expression; however, the walker walked away, as if nothing happened. The teen shook his head, thinking he was just hearing things, until he started to hear whispers and growls coming from all around him. He stood there in the middle of the horde and looked everywhere, seeing every walker turn towards him, staring into his eyes, as they all whispered various things to him.

"Whooooooo aaaaaaaaare yoooooooou?"

"Weeeee aaaaaaare Cyyyyyyyyruuuuuuus…"

"And weeeeeeeee aaaaaaare aliiiiiiiiive."

All around Matt were the numerous walkers all walking passed him, whispering in his ear. It was too much for him to take as he just stood there in the middle of the horde, staring ahead with dead eyes. At this point, he didn't even care that he was in danger, having gone too far into the deep end of mental instability as he was stuck in a trance-like state. Eventually, he broke out of the trance as he looked all around him, seeing the majority of the walkers behind him, while only a few were in front of him.

"Fuck it." he whispered to himself.

He grabbed his knife and jabbed it right in the forehead of a walker in front of him, killing it instantly. At that moment, the walkers in front of him started to charge towards him. Because they were slow and spread out, Matt had no trouble in taking them out as he continued to fulfill his sudden bloodlust for killing. After taking out the walkers in front of him, he turned to the massive horde behind him, unable to contain his excitement from killing in as he just unleashed his inner monster.

One by one, he killed as many walkers as he could by stabbing their heads from behind, losing the walker guts covered drape in the process. For some reason, he couldn't stop. It was like an addiction he just acquired. No matter how much he told himself 'just one more' he continued to kill as many walkers as he could, all while maliciously chuckling to himself. There were even a few close calls when several walkers began chomping at him. His entire body eventually got covered in walker blood, slowly hiding his scent, though his attacks ultimately gave away his human existence to the undead.

Eventually, he got overwhelmed and was forced to flee, leaving the burning Wolf's Den as well as the huge horde of walkers. If he could estimate, he would say he took out a good quarter of the horde during his rampage; even though he almost died a few times, he couldn't help but feel alive during that vicious assault. Both on the Wolf's Den and the large horde of walkers just now, as he continued to chuckle some more. His chuckle soon became a fit of maniacal laughter as he continued to run away from the burning factory. His psychotic laughs echoed through the forest, haunting the entire area.

* * *

By the time Matt arrived at Fort Mike Hawk, the Berserkers' base, it was already nighttime. Whether it was evening, the middle of the night, or early morning was unknown to Matt, though he didn't care nonetheless. He walked toward the front gates and began banging loudly on them, alerting some Berserker guards. A few guards appeared over the wall and aimed their weapons at him.

"Who are you?!" shouts a Berserker.

Matt flipped them off with both of his middle fingers. "Fuck you guys. Are you gonna let me in or what?" he asks, not having the patience for them.

"We thought you died!" exclaims the second Berserker.

"Just open up the goddamn door. I'm freezing my ass off out here." Matt ordered.

The front gates suddenly opened a little, just enough for a person to walk through, and walk through Matt did. As soon as he entered the base, the front gates opened as a few Berserkers approached him.

"How did you survive that explosion?" asks a Berserker.

"Where's Kwasi and the others?" he asks, ignoring the question.

"They're in the control tower." responds another Berserker.

Matt pointed his finger at him and gave him a stern look. "Don't tell them I'm here." he says before walking away.

The Berserkers gave him confused looks before going back to their posts.

* * *

Kwasi and Tyrone were next to each other as they stood next to the meeting table, with the remaining Berserkers as well as Camryn, Hunter, Bernard, Jake, and Jaren. Both of them had shot glasses of whiskey while the glass bottle was on the table next to them.

"Matt died a h'o (hero)." Kwasi starts off by saying. "E sagwificed is life in o'da' to take down the Timba'wolf leada', not only fweeing us fwom thee' shagles but taking out a lawge thweat int e wo'ld. Is bwav'y was beyond will to sa'vive was gweata'. We only met two days ago but... e was still one of us."

Hunter leaned towards Camryn. "How you feeling?" he whispers.

Camryn didn't answer for a few seconds before finally speaking. "Like I lost a part of me." she says.

Unbeknownst to any of them, Matt entered the room and stuck behind the group, standing at the very back as he watched Kwasi's speech about his sacrifice.

"E wanted to take Gweensb'o... We shall ono' is wish." Kwasi goes on to say. Matt rolled his eyes in response.

"We'll hold a proper funeral for him tomorrow at noon." Tyrone adds. "I've only known him for not that long but I could tell he was in a pin. Not physical but mental pain… I can tell he was suffering."

"The youngin' was brave… but stupid." Bernard adds. "He took every situation not as serious, was cocky, sarcastic, and all around a dick to people." Matt shot him an offended look. "But he was still our friend, a survivor… We will miss him."

"He saved him when we first met and in return, I saved him." Hunter says. "He tried to shoot himself but I stopped him. I watched the kid grow to the point where I even considered him as a son." Matt smiled warmly at him. "We bantered a lot but that's just how deep our friendship was… He was my best friend… and I'll miss him for as long as I live."

Now it was Camryn's turn to talk. "Ever since we met when we captured him…" she starts. "I… I couldn't explain it then but… it felt like love at first sight. It felt like I was destined to be with him. Seeing the aftermath of his torture was painful. I wanted nothing more but to save him and run away with him… In the end we did, but… we got separated… A man named Bay Domino told me that I was in love with him. At first I thought he was crazy, but now… I now know… that I love him as much as my heart can hold."

Matt felt his heart warm and grow ten times bigger as a massive blush grew on his face; he couldn't stop from smiling at her confession in front of everybody. He began maneuvering his way through the crowd, marching his way up to the front

Young Matt... You wa' stwong, powa'ful, bwave... You will not be fo'gotten." Kwasi says.

"'Scuse me. 'Scuse me, 'scuse me." Matt repeatedly said as he made his way to the front.

Everyone went wide-eyed in surprise to see Matt alive and well as he stood in front of everybody. While everyone had shocked expressions, Matt had a calm, nonchalant one on his face instead. It was as if he was making a big scene without making a big scene at the same time. The teen turned to the shot glass that was in Kwasi's hand before looking up at him.

"Are you gonna drink that?" he casually asks.

"Uuuuh." Kwasi responds.

Matt, having lost his patience, snatched the shot glass out of his hand and down the drink. He suddenly turned to the bottle of whiskey just lying on the table, taking that in his hand before downing the drink. For a few moments, the only sounds in the room was the sound of him gulping down the bottle whiskey, a feat that shocked everyone even more. He took in a large gasp of air as he finished the entire bottle, slamming it on the table as he smacked his lips.

"That shit sucks." he says, handing the bottle to Tyrone. HE then turned to face everyone in the room. "Wassuuuup. I'm alive. Yeah… Okay, that's enough. Camryn." He says as he signals here, walking over to her. "Let's go."

"You're alive?!" Camryn exclaims as Matt grabs a hold of her hand.

"Damnit." Jaren mumbles.

"Holy crap." Bernard mutters as Hunter couldn't help but grin profoundly.

"Yes, I'm alive! I'm right here in front of you. Now, come on, let's go." Matt says.

The teen began to lead Camryn out of the room, much to her confusion. "Wha- Where are we going?" she asks.

"WE are going to have SEX!" Matt excitingly exclaims.

"Wait! But, shou- shouldn't we stay to- Okay." Camryn complied as a smile grew on her blushing face.

Matt and Camryn exited the room, leaving a whole room of stunned survivors to themselves. For a long moment, silence loomed over the area, no one knowing how to properly respond to the absurd scene. It was Bernard who broke the silence.

"What the fuck?" Bernard says, his first time saying the word 'fuck'.

* * *

A few days after the raid on the Timberwolf base, every Berserker was out and about in the base, doing whatever they could to help out the community. Many Berserkers were fixing the damages that they obtained when the Timberwolves attacked them the other day while some were resting from the gruesome battle they laid out on their enemy the day before. In the control room were Kwasi, Matt and his friends, Jaren, as well as many members of the Berserker community.

"With the Timba'wolves out of the picta'," Kwasi began. "we a' finally fwee to do whateva' we want. We can finally keep all the wemaining weapons we ave instead of twading them with those damn Timba'wolves. Matt suggested we take Gweensb'o, which is filled with supa' walka's. oweva', we ave the numba's and fe'powa' to take down those supa' walka's. This place is no longa' safe becaoze of ow much damage we taken fwom the attack the otha' day. Not only that but if any sa'viving Timba'wolves show up with an awmy, we will not be pwepawed. Oa' only ope is welocate and Gweensb'o is the pa'fect plage. All we need to do is get wid of the supa' walka's and ev'ything will be set in stone... It is what Tedesco wanted."

Matt leaned into Hunter's ear and whispered, "It isn't really but let him have his moment."

"We will attack Gweensb'o tomo'wow in the afta'noon. We will ave daylight on oa' side so we won't be blinded with dawkness. We need ev'y single Bessa'ka' that is able to fight fo' this mission. It will pa'aps be the most toughest mission yet eva' since the Timba'wolves. Awe we all in agweement?" Kwasi asks.

"Hurrah!" shouts every Berserker.

"Where's Tyrone?" Bernard asks.

"Tywone will not be joining us fo' the attack tomo'wow. E got badly inja'd in the waid and as been told to west fo' the wemainda' of this week." Kwasi answered.

"Count me in on the raid!" Matt enthusiastically exclaims.

"Same here!" Hunter adds.

The two suddenly turned to Bernard and Camryn. "Bernard, Cam, you joining?" Matt asks.

Both Camryn and Bernard shifted in their positions, hesitating on answering. "Um." Camryn says.

Matt lifted an eyebrow. "What's wrong?" he asks.

"Matt," Camryn started. "Bernard and I have been thinking… We were once Timberwolves ourselves. We witness the brutality and barbaric ways they used to live. Now that we're part of the Berserkers… We see no difference between them and the Timberwolves. No offense, Kwasi! You guys are SO MUCH better than those guys. But it's just-"

"What the girl is sayin' is that… Barbaric… isn't our style." Bernard cut in.

"What are you talking about?" Hunter asks.

Bernard sighed heavily. "We're leaving the community." he says.

Both Hunter and Matt grew shocked expressions in response; the teen suddenly turned to the Berserker leader. "Do you know about this?!"

Kwasi nodded his head sadly. "They came to me the day afta' the Timba'wolves." he says. "They ponda'd awd about it since then and it seems they made up thee' decisions. I am not going to fo'ce them to live a'. I undesstand this community is not fo' ev'yone. I cannot fo'ce them to live a'. I mozt wespect thee' decisions and wish them luck in the futa'."

Matt began panting as he ran a hand through his hair. "I need a minute." he says, walking out of the room.

The rest of them all watched Matt exit the room, leaving them to themselves.

* * *

Matt sat on a bench on the highway, thinking about the decision his two friends made, a pondering expression on his face. As he was pondering on the current events, he kept his body distracted by playing with a lighter, consistently lighting it up over and over again. It wasn't until he was approached by the three that got his attention.

"Matt." Camryn says, sitting next to him. "I know what you're thinking."

Matt stayed silent for a moment before finally speaking. "I understand." he says. "It's just… You and me we have something special. And I don't mean sex. I want to spend every waking moment with you for the rest of my life. I want to be there for you during your bad days, your good days. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Camryn smiled as she felt her eyes tear up. "Me too." she says.

Matt sighed once more. "You should've talked to me." he says. "I would've taken this more easily… well because I would've known by now but you get the point."

"Kid." Hunter suddenly says, grabbing his attention. "If you want… We can leave with them."

Matt's expression brightened. "Really?" he asks.

Hunter smiled. "Of course." he says. "I'm not going anywhere without you, kid. We've been through hell and back together ever since we both saved each other. You've become like a son to me and overall, you're my best friend. I will never abandon you. I want to go with Bernard and Camryn, I really do… But the decision is on your part."

"Whatever you choose, youngin', we won't hold it against you." Bernard says.

Matt thought for a moment before finally making up his mind; he turned to Camryn and smiled at her. "Camryn," he says, grabbing her hands. He suddenly got on one of his knees, a gesture that instantly put Camryn into a heaping, blushing mess. "I will do anything for you, just to be with you forever. If it means leaving this community to be with you, to respect your wishes… Then so be it. I want nothing more but to be by your side forever. I know the world is dead and tradition is _kinda_ dead but… The best things are always those that don't go according to tradition. So…" he suddenly reached in his pocket and pulled out a silver ring. "I have kept this since the start of the apocalypse. I used to wear rings a lot and this was the only one I managed to save. So Camryn, will you do me the honors," he presented the ring to her, a smile on his face. "will you marry me?"

Camryn couldn't stop smiling as tears fell down her cheeks. "So this is what being proposed to feels like." she says. "Yes. Yes! Of course I will!"

Matt placed the ring on her ring finger before pulling her into a deep kiss; Hunter and Bernard began clapping as the former TV celebrity wiped a tear from his eye. The two teens pulled apart from each other as they stared into each other's eyes.

"One question." Matt suddenly says.

"Yeah?" she asks.

"When are you leaving?"

"Oh uh… We're leaving tomorrow morning." Bernard answers.

"Wat?" Matt asks, a shocked expression turned to him.

"Yeah, we were going to tell you but then you proposed and well… I guess the moment's ruined."

"So that means… You'll be gone before the attack." Matt says.

"Can't you guys just wait until we're back?" Hunter asks.

"We would but we want to be out of here before any remaining Timberwolves that managed to survive to attack while they're the most vulnerable." Bernard responds.

"How do you know they'll attack when we're gone?" Matt asks.

"The Timberwolves usually scouted communities to see who was weak and who wasn't." Camryn answers. "No doubt they want revenge for their leader's death so they're probably scouting us as we speak. They'd be waiting for an opportunity to strike and when you guys are leaving, it would be the perfect time for them to attack. We don't want to be caught in the crossfire when there's so little of us during a long period of time."

"But if they're waiting for us to leave, won't they ambush you guys if you leave regardless before we go or not?" Matt asks.

"We're taking one of the jeeps so we can get out of there faster." Bernard answered. "We're driving all the way to Richard's Motel where we'll leave the car there. The Berserkers will come and pick up the car. By then, we'll be long gone."

"Hey, I know that motel!" Hunter exclaims. "Me and my TV crew did an episode in that motel! It was about the haunting of a fisherman who got killed by a faucet shark! Granted, it wasn't our best episode then."

"That's great!" Camryn exclaimed. "That means you can show Matt where it is when you finish with Greensboro."

"You'll wait for us, right?" Matt asks.

Camryn shot him a reassuring smile. "Of course." she says.

Matt sighed heavily as he grabbed onto her shoulders. "If we don't show up that night… then just leave." he tells her. "I don't want you to be in a single spot for a long period of time. In a motel for that matter. You'll be exposed to any Timberwolves. I don't want to see you in heaven for a long time."

Camryn caressed his hands. "Please come back safe." she tells him.

Matt gave her a smile. "I always keep my word." he tells her. He suddenly let go of her to face his two friends. "I'm gonna check up on Tyrone and see how he's doing."

With that, Matt walked away, leaving his three friends to smile at him. "He may be a sarcastic dick… but he does care for other people." Camryn says.

"That's the kid for you. Unpredictable but has a heart of steel… Wait, does that make sense?" Hunter asks.

* * *

Tyrone was currently lying in his bed in the barracks, reading an article that was respectively titled **Concrete: Worst Thing Ever Created **to pass the time. At that moment, he heard knocking to the side, prompting him to turn to see Matt standing by the doorway, a smile on his face.

"Sup?" Matt asks.

"Heyyy." Tyrone says, setting the article down.

Matt entered the room as he grabbed a chair and sat backwards in it. "I heard you got injured during the raid. You alright?" he asks.

"Yeah, just a few broken bones. Nothing too serious. I've felt worse." Tyrone replies.

"How'd you get them? I thought you had armor on." Matt inquires.

"I got in a fight with that Lockjaw guy. Tough fight but I managed to pull through." Tyrone answers.

Matt whistled, impressed at his victory. "You and I are the only ones to ever beat Lockjaw out of everyone in this community." he says.

"You beat Lockjaw?" Tyrone asks with a smile, obviously not believing the kid.

Matt chuckled afterwards. "I had to improvise when I was fighting. Ended up forcing myself to puke just to get the upper hand." he says.

"Now that's smart." Tyrone compliments.

"Yeah." Matt agrees.

"Hey, are you alright?" Tyrone asks, suddenly serious.

"Yeah, I'm alright. You should worry about yourself though." Matt answers.

"No, I meant, are you alright… up here." Tyrone pointed to his temple.

Matt immediately knew what he was talking about as he nodded his head. "You know what?" he began. "Ever since Cyrus' death… I've never been better. It feels like I lost a whole weight off my shoulder. No more torment from him, no more Timberwolves. He's finally out of my life and now… I feel great!"

Tyrone smiled happily at that answer. "I'm glad." he says. "You're a good kid, Matt… Even if you are kind of unstable."

"I'm not unstable." Matt argues. "I just do what I have to do in order to survive. It's what we all do in this new world now."

"Yeah, I guess so." Tyrone answers.

"So you're not going to Greensboro tomorrow?"

Tyrone shifted in his spot, adjusting his covers. "Nah." he answers. "I'll be back on my feet the next day though."

"Actually, there's something I have to tell you." Matt says in a serious tone. "Me and my friends are leaving this place. Camryn and Bernard want to leave so me and Hunter are going with them. All four of us are a team. We've stuck together ever since we all met each other and I feel like I finally belong somewhere now. Those guys… They're my family. A family I never had… Before all this happened, I wished for a better family and a better father figure… You know what my friend said? He said, 'Only when the world goes to shit will that wish come true.'... Turns out he was right."

Tyrone smiled as he patted Matt's head. "He was." he says. "If you want to be with them, no one is stopping you. We found you all together, so it's only right if you leave together."

Matt smiled. "Thanks man." he says. "Me and Hunter are still going to Greensboro before we leave. We actually have quite a vendetta against that city."

"You want revenge on a city?" Tyrone asks in disbelief.

Mat waved his hand dismissively. "It's best not to question it." he says.

Tyrone snickered a bit. "Alright." he says with a smile, shaking his head.

"Anyway," Matt suddenly got up from his seat. "I just wanted to check up how you were doing. Rest easy, okay?"

"I will, Matt. I will." Tyrone reassures him.

With that, Matt left the room for Tyrone to continue recuperating his injuries.

* * *

Matt, Hunter, and Jake stood together as Bernard and Camryn were next to a military jeep the very next day, all saying their goodbyes to each other. "We'll miss you, Jake." Camryn says. "Thanks for saving us."

Jake smiled. "No problem." he says.

"I'm sure Louis is smiling down at you from heaven, youngin'." Bernard tells him.

"I'm sure he is too." Jake agrees.

Bernard turned to Hunter and Matt. "You know where the motel is, right?" he asks the former ghost hunter.

"Yep." Hunter replies.

"I have no clue where it is so he's my guide and GPS." Matt adds, pointing to him with his thumb.

Both Camryn and Bernard chuckled in response. "Well," Camryn starts to say. "we'll see you later today, alright?"

Matt nodded his head, reassuring her. "Of course." he replies.

"Wait!" Hunter suddenly spoke up. The four of them turned to him to see him pulling out a camera. "Let's take a group photo before you leave. That way, if we get lost, we will always be by each other."

"Where'd you get a camera?" Matt asks.

"Kwasi gave it to me." Hunter replies.

Matt shrugged as he stood next to him, with Camryn standing next to him; Bernard and Jake stood to the left of Hunter as he held up the camera, each of them smiling or gesturing at it. Bernard opted for a simple smile while Hunter gave a toothy grin. Jake, beside Bernard, had his arm around Bernard as he gave a peace sign with the arm around him. Matt grinned as he stuck a tongue out, giving a "you rock" hand gesture while Camryn kissed his cheek, giving him bunny ears behind his head.

After Hunter took the photo at least five times for each of them to carry, he placed the camera away as they all said their final goodbyes. The two teens shared a quick kiss before Camryn pulled away, walking towards the jeep. Bernard got in the driver seat while Camryn took the passenger seat. Bernard started the car as the front gates opened before they drove off, with Hunter, Matt, and Jake waving them goodbye. The front gates closed as quickly as they opened, severing their line of sight on their two friends.

"We should probably get ready." Jake says as he leaves.

Hunter turned around and walked away before turning back to his friend, realizing he was still facing the front gates. "Kid, you coming?" he asks.

Matt smiled, still facing the front gates before turning to face his best friend. "Yeah." he replies, walking over to him.

* * *

It was time. The time has come. Every single Berserker were in the many military jeeps as they drove towards Greensboro, ready to take control of the city. Greensboro was a long drive, so it took a couple of hours to get there. By that time, it was already late in the afternoon with the sun beginning to set. Hunter, Jake, and Matt, all clad in their Berserker outfits, rode in the leading military jeep driven by Kwasi.

"We'we wunning low on gas. We will ave to stop soon." Kwasi says.

"The entire perimeter of Greensboro is blocked off either way. We'd have to go on foot." Jake reveals.

"Thank God." Matt replies with relief in his voice. "I was starting to get car sick."

After a while, the military convoy finally arrived in Greensboro, with Jake's theory turning out to be true. The entire perimeter of Greensboro was blocked off by the remnants of blockades. These were obstacles that the military jeeps couldn't drive over. One by one, each of the military jeeps stopped as everyone got off, some stretching their limbs after hours of sitting still.

"Alwight, Bessa'ka's! We'we a'! weady yoa' weapons and pwepa' fo' a fight!" Kwasi announces.

"Hurrah!" every Berserker shouted.

Matt and Hunter cringed at the loud noise, not wanting to draw attention. By now, the sun was almost completely gone as night time arrived; though there was still a little light. The Berserker army marched over the blockade as they began to make their way into the center of the city, where the super walkers were hiding, told by Matt and Hunter themselves.

Every Berserker all had weapons, either a spear, a hatchet, or a shotgun, seeing that's all they could use since the attack on their base and the Timberwolf raid depleted their supplies greatly. Matt had a spear while Hunter favored teh shotgun, never having used one before and wanting to try it out. As they were walking, Matt couldn't help but read the graffiti that was written on the wall days after the outbreak started; all around was just graffiti written on the walls by previous survivors.

_FEMA SUCKS_

_WHERE IS FEMA?!_

_THEY'RE SHOOTING PEOPLE!_

_EVAC is GONE! WE're aLL AlONE HERe!_

_CITY IS OVERRUNNED!_

_The walkers can run now! THEY CAN RUN!_

_It takes 5 hours to turn!_

_LIES!_

_I saw it happen in 2 ½ hours!_

_IT HAPPENED IN 5 MINS!_

Matt suddenly stopped as he began to read a poem that was written on a wall:

_Jonathan, you have touched my very being. I shall remember you. You taught all that knew you what courage meant And have shown us an example in death as you did in life. God give me strength in my life without you . And I shall thank her. I can only hope that our souls shall intwine entwine again in the place where there is only love, no tears, no sadness, no injustice, no cruelty, no white, no black, no zombies no hate, no war, only love. Only love, Alison_

Matt looked down to see several comments regarding the poem, and he couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

_**PS IM FAT**_

_QQ_

_**GO BACK TO POETRY SCOOL!**_

_Cool story bro!_

_You should hit a zombie with your thesaurus!_

_I'm hiding from walkers and reading this was the most terrible thing to happen to me today_

_Alison, / Roses are red Violets are blue / You suck_

_Alison, / I'm glad I'm dead - Johnathan's Ghost_

Matt quickly caught up to the Berserkers as he continued to read more graffiti written on the walls.

_NO ZOMBIE IS SAFE FROM CHICAGO TED!_

_GOD I hate Zombies_

_Really?_

_Way to step away from the pack_

_LOL what a moron I LOVE ZOMBIES_

_I wanT To Take zomBiEs OUT ON A DATE._

_Would someone please hide the pens?_

As they began marching, Kwasi began humming as everyone else soon began humming along. The only two who weren't humming were Hunter and Matt.

"Sound off!" Kwasi exclaims.

"1! 2!" two Berserkers replied.

"Sound off!"

"3! 4!" Hunter and Matt replied respectively.

"Sound off!"

"5! 6! 7! 8! 9! 10! 11! 12! 13! 14! 15!"

"**We Besa'ks go mawching one by one. Hurrah. Hurrah."** Kwasi began to sing.

"**We slaughter walkers just for fun. Hurrah. Hurrah."** the rest of the Berserkers sang.

"Don't these guys know that noise attracts the walkers?" Matt asked Hunter.

"They're called Berserkers. I doubt they give little care to their own health." Hunter replies.

"It's not that we don't care." Jake suddenly spoke up. "It's just that we have hearts of steel. Nothing can penetrate it. We fight to the death and we employ barbaric tactics to win. If we have to sacrifice ourselves for victory, we will."

"Sounds pretty barbaric to me." Matt says.

"That's what I just said." Jake replies.

"**We Berserks go marching two by two. Hurrah. Hurrah. We'll all be dead before we're through. Hurrah. Hurrah."**

"We fight in numbers," Jake continues to say. "to overwhelm our enemies. Evident by the Timberwolve's defeat. We're fearless in the face of death and we are powerful as a whole. We are like a colony type democracy. We follow orders from our leader because we trust them. We trust that they make the right decisions."

"And that's how you guys work? A barbaric society?" Matt asks.

"Well… Yeah. I guess so." Jake sheepishly replies.

"**We Berserks go marching three by three. Hurrah. Hurrah. HURRAH! HURRAH! Dead men are what we soon will be. Hurrah. Hurrah."**

"You know, apart from the barbarism, this anthem is actually quite motivational." Hunter reveals.

"Oh yeah. I'm feeling fired up." Matt sarcastically remarked.

"We wear red to represent our fierce loyalty to our leader as well as our bravery… that and Tedesco's favorite color was red." Jake reveals.

Matt and Hunter gave each other an odd look; suddenly, they wanted to be with Bernard and Camryn at this point.

"**We Berserks go marching four by four. Hurrah. Hurrah. They'll find out there's a hundred more. Hurrah. Hurrah."**

"Maybe joining these guys was a mistake." Matt says to Hunter.

"Yeah, I'm thinking so too." Hunter replies. "Hey, after this, I have a place in mind where we can live."

"Wait. What?" Matt questions.

"**We Berserks go marching five by five. Hurrah. Hurrah. We don't plan on returning alive. Hurrah. Hurrah."**

"Where do you want to take us?" Matt asks.

Hunter smiled. "California. My home state." he reveals. "It's beautiful, especially in the spring. We'll be by the beach and everything."

"I hate the West Coast." Matt reveals.

"**We Berserks go marching six by six. Hurrah. Hurrah. HURRAH! HURRAH! We'll counter all the savage's tricks. Hurrah. Hurrah."**

"How come?" Hunter asks, genuinely curious.

"Too hot." Matt reveals. "I hate the heat. I get all sweaty and uncomfortable. Besides, California is a long way from North Carolina.

"That's why us four will find a car, gas it up, and drive all the way over there." Hunter responds.

"**We Berserks go marching seven by seven. Hurrah. Hurrah. Soon we all will be in heaven. Hurrah. Hurrah."**

"Why are you so optimistic?" Matt asks.

"I don't know." Hunter responds. "I've been drinking tap water ever since we arrived at the Berserker's base. Besides, I have a good feeling about this road trip we'll take together.

"Shit. I should start drinking from the tap then." Matt counters.

"**We Berserks go marching eight by eight. Hurrah. Hurrah. Our bravery is fueled by rage and hate. Hurrah. Hurrah."**

"Actually, there's another reason why I want to go to the west coast." Hunter says.

"Family?" Matt asks.

Hunter shook his head. "Sadly, I'm the last of my family. My parents and brother died in the early days. No, the reason why I want to go to Cali is because of Catalina." he says.

"Catalina? Why?" Matt asks.

"**We Berserks go marching nine by nine. Hurrah. Hurrah. HURRAH! HURRAH! We know we'll die but that's just fine. Hurrah. Hurrah."**

"It's an island and less of a population than the mainland." Hunter responds. "We'll have unlimited amounts of food and water, when we get a filter, and a beach to enjoy our free time. It's perfect! All we need is a boat and gas and we're golden!"

"Doesn't Catalina have like 4000 people living on it though?" Matt asks.

"Well, no doubt this infection reduced those numbers. Besides, we're smarter and faster than the walkers, and once we eliminate every walker on the island, we'll finally live in peace!" Hunter enthusiastically exclaims.

Matt thought about it for a moment before smiling. "You know what?" he asks. "That's the greatest plan I have ever heard… I'm in it!"

"Alright!" Hunter shouts.

\Behind them, Jaren was glaring at Matt from behind, obviously still holding resentment and hatred towards the long haired teen for the death of his sister.

"**We Berserks go marching ten by ten. Hurrah. Hurrah. Those who live shall fight again. Hurrah. Hurrah."**

"You know Hunter," Matt begins. "ever since I met you, you've been a pain in my ass." Hunter glared at him when he said that, though it quickly went away when Matt smiled back at him. "But you've grown on me. Back before, I had a bad family. My dad would hit me and lock me in the basement, torture me psychologically, and my mom neglected me. My brother used to beat me up all the time. I joined a gang to escape from them and became a criminal. For the longest time, I never knew the true definition of family… But being with you, with Bernard and Camryn, I feel like I finally found a family."

Hunter smiled greatly at his friend for this epiphany.

"And I just want to let you know that you're-"

"FOWWAAAAAAAAAAAAWD!" Kwasi was heard shouting from the front.

One by one, each of the Berserkers began charging into the middle of the city, passing by the two survivors whom were caught up in the storm. "Save that thought for later, kid! Let's kick some walker ass!" Hunter shouts as he began charging.

Matt adjusted his headband as he too charged, yelling out a war cry as he charged into the city; Every Berserker ran and jumped over obstacles, running through buildings as they swarmed the abandoned city. By now, it was completely dark and the only things that could be heard were the war cries of the entire Berserker militia. Matt ran through an abandoned store and out the hole in the opposite wall, having lost track of Hunter.

Eventually, the entire Berserker militia entered the town square where the super walkers were currently hiding… or so they thought when they found out that there was nothing there in the empty town square. Everyone stopped screaming as they halted, looking around everywhere as confusion entered all of their minds. There was not a single walker in sight; the entire town square was empty as the full moon illuminated the entire area.

"Where is everyone?" Jaren asks.

"Something is not wight." Kwasi says.

"What's going on?" Jake asked.

As the many of the Berserker soldiers began murmuring to themselves, Matt and Hunter were more confused than the other survivors. "Where are they?" asked Hunter. "We saw them with our own eyes when we crossed over the crashed helicopter. They should be here."

"Maybe… Maybe they got bored and left?" Matt wondered.

"Keep yoa' eyes and eaws opened, people." Kwasi warns his men.

From the back, a single Berserker soldier was amongst his comrades and fellow survivors, just as confused as the rest were. However, unbeknownst to him, an unknown force was creeping behind him, sneaking up without making a sound. At the last moment, the Berserker could hear the low growl from behind him, prompting him to turn around immediately. He gasped as he was now face to face with a super walker, which roared in front of his face. The super walker spat out blood and saliva, drenching the Berserker survivor's face.

"THEY'RE HEEEERE!" he shouted.

The super walker bit down on the Berserker survivor and began to devour him in front of his comrades. At that moment, the sounds of loud growling could be heard, as many super walkers emerged from their hiding spots in the shadows. They all began running towards the Berserker soldiers, surrounding them like water to an island.

"ATTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!" Kwasi commanded.

With that, everyone charged at the enemy, with the super walkers continuing to emerge from the shadows. Matt and Hunter charged next to each with Jake and Jaren behind, all yelling at the top of their lungs as they charged towards the undead. The two groups charged at each other, as the Berserker soldiers yelled out various war cries. The super walkers continued to run their way towards the Berserkers, growling while extending their hands to try and get a grip on their prey.

After a few moments, the two groups collided, with a super walker falling dead on the ground. One Berserker soldier was unfortunate enough to get caught in the death grip of a walker, whom bit down on his face before his corpse was carelessly thrown on the ground.

Three Berserker survivors could be seen fighting a single super walker. That walker growled as he swung one of it's claws, scratching the three survivor's faces before it bit down on the middle survivor.

Off to the side were three other Berserker survivors, running towards a super walker whom had it's back turned towards them.

"Come on!" the survivor exclaimed to his fellow peers.

The three stabbed the super walker in the back with their spears and hatchets, causing it to growl out in anger. If one were to stand on a cliff, they could see a whole massacre happening. True the Berserker soldiers had the advantage over numbers, but when it came down to recklessness and brutal murder, the super walkers had the upper hand.

Somewhere amongst the chaos was Matt, whom finished stabbing a super walker in the face with his spear, killing it instantly. He quickly turned around, hearing another walker growling from behind. He immediately stabbed the walker in the chest with his spear before he went in for the kill, plunging his weapon into the skull of the undead corpse. At that moment, an explosion rang out through the crowd, someone in the massacre throwing a careless grenade.

Matt was suddenly drenched in blood and organs, as a severed hand landed near his feet. He was briefly in shellshock as he stumbled onto his knee, grabbing his head in pain, vulnerable to any attack. At that moment, a super walker ran towards him, though because he was temporarily stunned, he didn't notice the oncoming death towards him.

However, luck was on his side, as the super walker's head was suddenly blasted off, causing it to fall down. Matt turned to the corpse of the walker, only now noticing it's existence. He turned to the other direction to see Hunter, holding his shotgun at the corpse.

"Three to three. We're even now." Hunter says, chuckling in the process.

Matt immediately knew what he was referring to, as he too chuckled himself. "Heh. Bastard." he playfully bantered.

Hunter smiled at his friend before looking passed him, growing wide eyes and a fearful expression. "On your left!" he shouted.

Looking immediately to his left, he saw a super walker jogging towards him. Acting quickly and aggressively, not to mention recklessly, Matt immediately kicked the super walker's knee, bending it the other direction. Grabbing his hatchet, Matt swung down onto the skull of the super walker, killing it. Behind Matt was Hunter, whom proceeded to shoot down the many super walkers. He stopped to reload as he swung the butt of his shotgun at a walker, sending it falling to the ground.

In the midst of the crowd was a small group of Berserker soldiers, all clumped up in one spot. One soldier got his spear until he was grabbed and pulled towards a set of walker's teeth, while another walker snuck up behind the second survivor. Acting quickly, the third survivor lit up a molotov and was prepared to throw it, before he too was caught in the jaws of death.

Before he was devoured, he threw his molotov at a random direction, setting a couple of walkers and soldiers on fire. The soldiers screamed as they began to run around rampantly and carelessly. One soldier that was on fire ran passed Jake before he fell to the ground, finally burning to death. Jake swung his hatchet at the knees of the walker in front of him before he decapitated said walker. The head rolled onto the ground as it continued to growl, only for Jake to squish the head with the bottom of his boot, smashing it's brains in and destroying it.

Jake backed up until he bumped into something, prompting him to turn around. However, to his unfortunate luck, he bumped into the back of a super walker, which roared in his face. The super walker's head was suddenly blasted off it fell to the ground, revealing Kwasi to be it's killer. Jake smiled and nodded his head, grateful that he saved his life. Kwasi nodded his head in return before continuing with the massacre. Jake turned to the side to see a super walker devouring a Berserker soldier; he slammed his hatchet onto the head of the super walker, killing it instantly before swinging his hatchet at another super walker.

Matt had just finished stabbing a super walker in the head with his spear before kicking it's corpse off his weapon. Right at that moment, Matt heard a scream from behind him, causing him to turn around. There he saw a Berserker soldier getting mauled to death by a group of walkers. He ran up to the soldier and quickly stabbed each of the walkers' heads, killing them, as well as freeing the dying Berserker. When Matt looked up, his eyes widened as everything around him slowed down. In the distance, behind a few Berserker soldiers, was Cyrus, just standing there staring at him

Cyrus was shown to be standing in the middle of the battlefield, smiling deviously at Matt with his hands behind his back. He was untouched by the chaos as he continued to smile at Matt, whom began backing up; the teen grabbed his head in pain as he stared into Cyrus' eyes, unsure if he was real or not. Matt then began taking a look of his surroundings, seeing the chaos unfold in slow motion.

He saw a soldier stabbing a walker in the eye with a dagger, while another walker behind him bit down onto another soldier's face. He turned to the left to see a poor soul getting ripped apart by a group of walkers, an unfair advantage. He turned in the opposite direction, right this time, to see a soldier ripping off an arm of a walker while his boot was planted on the back of said walker. Matt turned his attention back to Cyrus, whom continued to stare into Matt's soul with a devious smirk.

"You are me…. And I… am you." Cyrus' voice echoes.

The hallucination of Cyrus was interrupted by a super walker roaring in front of Matt's face, snapping him out of the trance. Everything returned to normal as it all went back to normal speed. Acting quickly, Matt swung the hatchet, slicing the walker's head in half, killing it.

"Verdammt. (Damn.)" Matt said in German.

He suddenly heard roaring behind him, causing him to turn around. There he saw a walker extending his arms towards Matt, trying to grab him. Having no time to attack, Matt dropped his hatchet as he grabbed the wrists of the walker and began to rapidly walk backwards, desperate for survival.

Somewhere in the crowd, Jaren could be seen stabbing a walker in the face, killing it, having lost his shotgun in the middle of the battle before he turned around. His eyes widened to see Matt backing up inside the crowd, while a walker was pushing him. Anger was suddenly ignited in his veins as he began to march his way towards his enemy and his sister's alleged killer. He swung his knife at a walker to the side, killing it effortlessly, as he continued to march his way towards Matt.

Eventually, Matt was pushed out of the crowd and was now in front of a bookshop. Struggling with the walker in front of him, he decided to improvise and throw the walker into the bookstore window, completely shattering the glass. The walker groaned as it tried to get up, while Matt made his way towards the walker, grabbing a glass shard as an improvised weapon/dagger. He swung the glass shard onto the back of the walker's skull destroying the brain and killing it.

Matt sighed in relief afterwards.

"Hey!" shouted a voice.

Matt turned around to see Jaren, glaring right at him. "You've got to be kidding me." Matt muttered under his breath.

"We need to talk!" shouted Jaren.

"If this is about your sister, I'm sorry." Matt apologized.

"Shut up!" Jaren shouted. "You took Melony away from me! She did nothing to you and you straight up murdered her, you bastard!"

"It wasn't my fault!" Matt shouted back. "Look, Jaren, we can discuss this another time, but right now, we have a massacre on our hands! Our lives are on the line."

"No. YOUR life is on the line!' Jaren continued to shout. "After I'm done with you, no one will recognize you. This is what you get for killing Melony!" Jaren raised his dagger in the air.

Jaren swung his dagger down and all around, only for Matt to dodge each swing. Matt raised his arm in the air, stopping a downward slash from Jaren, as his arm intercepted the swing. The two struggled in the middle of the bookstore as Matt continued to hold his arm in place, while Jaren desperately tried to push his arm down.

"I didn't kill her! She killed herself!" Matt shouted.

"SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUP!"

With that, Jaren brought out his pistol and aimed it at Matt's chest, before rapidly pulling the trigger. Matt was shot multiple times in the chest and was shoved back onto the bookstore counter. Almost immediately, he saw Jaren come rushing towards him, prompting Matt to kick Jaren away. Matt grabbed his chest and lifted his shirt up, revealing to be wearing body armor underneath.

"Jaren, you've got to listen to me!" Matt shouted in desperation as Jaren got back up. "She killed herself! She couldn't take this world anymore! She couldn't take the violence, it hurt her heart! So she killed herself! Stabbed herself in the chest to save herself from the violence and the walkers! She committed seppuku!"

"You're lying!" Jaren shouted, still not believing Matt.

"If I was lying, then why was the one who called for help?!" Matt shouted back. "Think you idiot! If I killed her, why was I crying about her death?! We were all alone and there were no witnesses! I could've easily slipped under the radar but I didn't! I didn't because I tried to stop her but I was too late! I tried to help her, Jaren! You've got to believe me!"

"Why would I believe someone like you?!" Jaren shouted. "All you care about is yourself! You care about no one else in this godforsaken world!"

"That's not true!" Matt shouted back. "I care about Hunter! I care about Bernard… I care about Camryn. I know what Melony was going through. I knew exactly what was going through her head. I've been in her situation before. Do you know how many times I've tried to end my own life because I couldn't take it anymore? More than you know, Jaren. That's why I tried to stop her because I'm still here. I'm still battling and living on. Even though my life is already hell and I hate it, that's just how it is. I tried to stop her but I couldn't."

"Fuck you." Jaren hissed. "I won't stop until you feel my pain!"

Jaren suddenly rushed towards Matt and swung his dagger. Matt used the glass shard in his hand to block the attack, only for the dagger to cut the glass shard in half. Everything went in slow motion as Matt quickly slashed the half cut glass shard the opposite direction, cutting Jaren's chest. He suddenly raised his right foot and with all his strength and force, kicked Jaren over to the wall, causing him to drop his dagger.

Everything returned back to normal as Matt went to grab the dagger, only for Jaren to pull out his gun again. He pulled the trigger and shot the gun, the bullet piercing Matt's right shoulder. He grabbed his shoulder in pain as he fell to the ground and on his knee. He hissed in pain as he saw Jaren pick himself up; however, at that moment, anger and rage fueled Matt's veins, as he glared deadly daggers at Jaren ironically.

Ignoring his excruciating pain, Matt grabbed Jaren's throat and pushed him to the wall, pinning him against it. Giving his enemy no time at all, Matt threw Jaren backwards and onto the ground, breaking a wooden table in the process.

Jaren, now on his back, groaned in pain as Matt got on his knees and got over Jaren, anger on his face. Matt then began to let out a violent assault onto Jaren, punching his face over and over again. He suddenly grabbed his hair and aggressively banged the back of Jaren's head against the wooden floor, blood spilling from the back.

Seeing a cable on the ground beside him, Matt grabbed it and immediately wrapped it around Jaren's neck. He tightened the cable and began to squeeze it, choking Jaren to death. Jaren gagged as he clawed Matt's hands, only for him to tighten the cables even more. Matt gritted his teeth as he banged Jaren's head against the wooden floor once again, before doing it a second time.

He turned his attention to a drill to the side, a horrific idea suddenly forming inside his head. He let go of the cables as Jaren gasped for air, swallowing everything he had to fuel his lungs. Matt grabbed the drill beside him and pressed the button to test if it had power. Sure enough, the drill whirred as it spun around; Matt looked down to see Jaren glaring at Matt with hateful eyes. Matt began to press and hold the power button of the drill and began to lower it towards Jaren's face.

"Motherfucker! I'm gonna FUCK YOU UP!" Matt shouted as he gritted his teeth.

Jaren used his hands to stop Matt, grabbing onto his wrists as Matt continued to lower the drill as it got closer and closer to Jaren's face. Jaren's eyes widened as his hateful expression disappeared, as fear replaced it while Matt was the one to grow a hateful look. The drill got closer and closer to Jaren's face, but because Jaren was stronger, he managed to pull the drill away. Thinking quickly, Matt spat into Jaren's face, causing him to yell in disgust and loosen his grip. This was a fatal mistake as Matt finally lowered the drill onto Jaren's left eye, blood squirting out like a geyser.

Jaren's grip loosened as his arms went limp and fell to the side, while his brain got completely destroyed. While Matt was busy drilling Jaren's left eye socket and killing him, he couldn't help but laugh maliciously at the death of his enemy. He cackled as he stared into the lifelessly right eye of Jaren, which was staring right back at Matt. At that moment, the drill suddenly stopped, finally losing it's power, prompting Matt to stop his killing. He panted as from all the laughter as he stared at Jaren's corpse, before reality set in. His malicious expression turned into a horrified one as he dropped the drill before he stood up.

He began to look at his bloody palms, terrified at them all of a sudden as a traumatized and dead expression set upon his face.

"Who have I become?" Matt asked himself.

Matt looked up to see a mirror in front of him, however, he immediately noticed something was off. Instead of seeing his own reflection, he saw Cyrus', only his movements were synchronized with Matt's movements, while his facial expressions were the same as Matt's as well.

_"I'm afraid one day when I look in the mirror… I won't recognize who I am."_ Matt's own voice was heard within his memories back when he first met Cyrus.

Matt stared at the reflection in horror, realizing that Cyrus was right… He was Cyrus, and Cyrus was him… Matt knew from then on… he became what he loathed, whom he hated… he became Cyrus. Having already lost so much, having done many horrible things, so much trauma, it clogged his head. He no longer even saw himself as himself anymore. Instead, he saw a monster. A sick, twisted monster with insanity filling his veins.

The moment was interrupted as he saw the reflection of a survivor walking towards him. However, said survivor wasn't wearing the usual Berserker outfit. Instead, he was wearing a white buttoned shirt with a black tie and black suit pants, as his clothes were all clean as his hair was combed. It was as if the man wasn't touched by the apocalypse at all.

Matt turned around only to be met face to face with a walker. Said walker had a ripped, dirty white buttoned shirt with a ripped black tie. The walker growled as it went in for the kill, only for Matt to grab the walker's throat and push him against a wall. He began to violently smash the walker's brains in on the side of the counter, destroying it's brain and killing it.

Matt panted as he swallowed some air, began panting some more. He suddenly heard creaking from the side, prompting him to turn around. There, he saw a bookshelf falling towards him; having no time to react, Matt screamed in place as the bookshelf came crashing down on him, knocking him unconscious.

Though he was protected by the bookshelf, Matt laid underneath it unconsciously, while the gruesome battle continued to purge on outside the bookstore.

* * *

Far away from Greensboro, Camryn and Bernard were sitting by a campfire in the middle of the motel, with Camryn poking at the dead fox they caught that was roasting over said campfire. She suddenly looked at the entrance, as if she was anticipating for someone to show up. After a few moments of watching the entrance, she sighed before going back to poke at the dead animal over the fire.

"They should've been here by now." she says.

"I'm sure they're alright." Bernard tells her. "Hunter and Matt are strong. They probably lost their way. I'm sure they'll turn up sometime tonight."

"Hunter said he knew where this motel is. Matt has no idea where it is… Do you think they…?" she didn't want to finish her sentence.

Bernard placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile. "Trust me, they're alright." he tells her before going back to the fire.

Camryn turned back to the entrance, seeing a lone walker walk pass it, having not noticed the two's presence. Afterwards, she placed a hand on her stomach, remembering how her period was late, which only met one thing. She then looked back at the entrance, a worried expression on her face.

"Please be safe." she says above a pleading whisper.

* * *

Matt slowly opened his eyes, finally coming out of unconsciousness. He tried to get up but realized the broken bookshelf was on top of him. He used the little bit of strength he just acquired from his wake to lift the bookshelf off of him.

He stood up, stretching to wake up any muscles, before he turned to the side. There he saw the corpse of Jaren, with his left eye socket completely destroyed. Remembering what happened and how he died, Matt turned away, ashamed of his own actions. He turned his head to the broken window, realizing it was day time but also mildly foggy. Matt stepped out of the window, and was immediately horrified at the sight in front of him.

Everywhere he looked, he saw the dead corpses of Berserkers and super walkers. Some walkers had spears stuck through their bodies with all of their heads smashed to finally kill them. While some Berserkers had their torsos ripped open with their intestines spilled on the ground, their arms and legs ripped off or half their faces chewed off. It was a traumatizing sight for Matt. In the distance, he saw a few walkers roaming around the place, most likely Berserk soldiers that turned when they got killed. Though they were too far away to even notice him or to be any threat to him at all.

He walked through the dead battlefield, being the only living entity in the area. He walked over many corpses, looking at every dead body, seeing how they were killed. It was very gruesome of how many of them died. Matt continued to walk in the town square, looking everywhere at the many corpses lying on the ground. He saw the corpse of Kwasi, the Berserker leader, having half of his right arm ripped off while his face was completely bitten off. He walked some more as he spotted Jake's corpse, a chunk of his neck was missing which led to a death by blood loss. By now, he was so shocked at the sight that he just walked slowly as he scoured the area for any survivors. Unbeknownst to him, there was actually another survivor besides him.

"Kid!" a raspy voice could be heard, grabbing Matt's attention. "Kid! Over here!"

Matt turned around to the voice's direction. He was surprised and astonished to see a familiar face still alive. He quickly ran up to the survivor but grew an even more shocked expression.

"Hunter!" he gasped in shock.

Hunter's torso and stomach had been completely ripped open, disembodied, revealing his inner organs that spilled all over the ground. Though he seemed oblivious to this fact.

"Hey kid. Am I hurt bad?" he asked with very little breath in his voice.

"Nah- N- No." Matt stammered, unable to tell his friend the truth. "Y-You-You're actually in great shape. I-I-I mean you have a sf-few bruises here and there and a cut o-on your face.

"Don't lie to me kid." Hunter replied. "I know what's going on… I can see it in your eyes… I'm a lost cause." Matt flinched at those words, hating his optimistic friend talking so dark. "Help me up, kid."

Matt grabbed his head and began to lift his torso, much to Hunter's pain. A gruesome realization hit him like a truck.

"I can- I can't feel my legs." He gasped.

Matt laid Hunter down on the ground again.

"It's- It's alright, Hunter." Matt tried to reassure his friend. "You've got to hang in there, dude. Just ta- ta- take deep breaths, alright. Cuz I'm go- go- go- go- gonna try to find the medic for some morphine and bandages." Matt turned his head to the dead square, looking at the corpses, scanning to try to find the Berserker's medic. "I-I-I mean he's bound to be… out there… s- somewhere."

All he saw were the corpses of his fellow allies and the super walkers. It was next to impossible to actually find the medic's dead body for his supplies. Not only that, but it was impossible to heal Hunter's wounds, though Matt appeared to have been in denial. Hunter began coughing and hacking, before sighing and closing his eyes. Matt was startled by this and feared for the worst.

"Hunter." he gasped. "Just stay with me for a little longer, buddy. Come on, man. I know you can do it. Just stay with me, please." Hunter kept his eyes shut, as Matt's heart stopped. "Hunter." he whispered.

Suddenly, Hunter's eyes slowly opened, as he looked directly at Matt.

"Don't worry about me, kid." he said in a weak voice. "My time has come… You still have a chance… Don't let anyone get in your way… You're strong enough to be on your own if you want to… but it's your decision if you want to be in a group or not… Stay away from large cities… they cause trouble… Too many hiding spots for the walkers… I'm just sorry that we never got a chance to meet up with Bernard and Camryn… and go to Catalina and live out our beach life… It would've been the best life ever."

Matt sniffed as a few tears escaped his eyes. "The best." he agrees, sniffing some more. "Hunter… You've been my best friend throughout this apocalypse… My family was never nice to me and my father abused me… But you… You were so nice to me. You were like the father I never had. That's why… That's why I considered you as my father… You're not only my father, Hunter… but you're my best friend."

Hunter smiled as a single tear rolled down his cheek. "That means the world to me kid… I'm glad I could be a father to you… because you're like the son I never had." Hunter says. He began coughing some more as he took in another deep breath. "This is your journey now, kid. Make the best of it… But remember, I'll always be by your side… as a friendly ghost… like how I used to hunt for them… I'm thankful you saved me from that shack back in Georgia… and I'm glad I stopped you from shooting yourself… I wouldn't have had an awesome partner like you… I wouldn't have a best friend… and a son… Be safe, Matt… I'll miss you…"

With his final breath, he closed his eyes and passed away. Matt's heart sank as he stared at the corpse of his friend. Tears began forming in his eyes, as he grabbed Hunter's chest and hands.

"Hunter…" he whispered.

He let go of Hunter's hand and took his hand away from his chest. He closed his eyes, lowered his head, and sat on his knees, as he mourned the death of his dear friend.

All around Matt were several corpses of Berserker soldiers and super walkers, becoming an eerie, silent area as Hunter's corpse with Matt beside it in the middle. While the corpses laid all around Matt, he continued to mourn the loss of his dear friend. Matt suddenly looked up, seeing a figure standing in the distance; he squinted his eyes to get a better look at the side figure. The figure suddenly cleared up, revealing themselves to be Cyrus, still smiling deviously at Matt. Realizing it was a hallucination, Matt sighed in defeat as he continued to stare at the Cyrus hallucination.

At that moment, a voice entered his head, the voice of the trench coat man he has been seeing for the past few days. _"Someone close to you will soon leave you."_

Realizing this prediction came true, Matt looked down as he closed his eyes, silently crying to himself as walkers that were once Berserkers roamed the entire town square, unaware of his existence.

* * *

Matt walked alone in the streets, not even bothering checking the Berserker community seeing how the only people that were there were Tyrone and at least 4 other Berserker soldiers. It wasn't enough for them to rebuild a community, so it was pointless to go back. He managed to find a map that told him where the motel was, giving him the directions he so desperately needed.

Eventually, he came across the motel and entered through the large entrance. There, he saw a fire pit in the middle of the motel, long been put out. He looked at the motel and suddenly began to check every room in it, hoping that Bernard and Camryn were still there. But alas, he checked every room and came to the conclusion that Bernard and Camryn were long gone.

He walked over to the fire pit and sat on the lawn chair, needing a well deserved rest to rest his legs. He was resting for a few seconds before he looked up, before shooting up to his feet, having spotted something. On the wall was a graffiti message, with the one word that caught his attention: **Matt**. He quickly ran up to the graffiti message and began to read it.

**Matt,**

**We couldn't stay here any longer. It was getting too risky. No protection. I don't know where we're heading. Being with you has been the best time of my life and you will always be on my mind… I'm pregnant.**

**Good luck if you're still breathing.**

**Love, Camryn Dillon.**

Matt stared at the message with wide, tear filled eyes; now he was completely alone. He had no one left in his life. He leaned his head against the graffiti message and began to cry right there on the spot.

* * *

Matt returned to the Berserker community, in hopes that people were still there. However, he doubted that when he saw the front gates to be wide open. He took one step in there and immediately saw that the base was no longer a safe haven for survivors. There were hundreds of walkers in the base, all roaming around all over the place. He didn't even dare to step foot in the base, realizing that there were no survivors left in it if it was infested with walkers.

He slowly and sadly turned back as he walked away from the base, starting another lonely journey that he never wanted but got.

* * *

A diner by a highway with the name Caitlyn's Marvelous Bistro stood alone in the midst of a stormy night.

Midnight loomed over the area as Matt leaned against the wall, having a defeated expression on his face while a storm was occurring outside. The whole diner that he was in had no power and was completely dark, though he could still make out objects in the dark nonetheless. He sighed heavily through his nose, not having the energy to even get up and continue moving on.

He turned to the side to see that there was a corpse of a military man beside him. However, his attention turned to the revolver in his holsters, a .44 Magnum to be precise. He grabbed the magnum out of the holster and immediately checked if there were any bullets in it.

Sure enough, the whole chamber was loaded mysteriously. He quickly emptied the revolver as the bullets fell into the palm of his hand. He discarded three of the bullets and loaded in the other three inside. He quickly spun the chamber before closing it.

He sighed heavily once more as he placed the barrel of the gun to his temple, ready to end his life. He slowly lowered the hammer and placed his finger on the trigger. He was ready to die, to end his life. He had nothing left. His best friend and only family had died or were gone and he was all alone once again. He didn't want to live.

He pulled the trigger…

**CLICK!**

Matt groaned in defeat as he laid his hand back down onto the ground, disappointed that he was spared from death. He laid his head against the wall as he began to silently cry in the night. At that moment, lightning struck as thunder clapped the area, partially lighting the restaurant for a brief moment.

In that brief moment, the electronic letters that were nailed to the wall were illuminated by the lightning. However, most of the letters of the diner, Caitlyn's Marvelous Bistro, were gone. Only five letters remained on the wall, and those five letters spelled a single word when lightning struck down, shining it's bright light into the diner:

Cyrus.

**END**

* * *

"_He was the last thread suspending me in the light. Without him, I can feel myself spiraling downward, falling to a place where I can no longer pull myself back up."_

* * *

**Written by MTHellhound**

_Heya Tom, it's Bob from the office down the hall_

_It's good to see you buddy, how've you been?_

_Things have been OK for me except that I'm a zombie now_

**Co-author Mr. PotassiumK**

_I really wish you'd let us in_

_I think I speak for all of us when I say I understand_

_Why you folks might hesitate to submit to our demand_

_But here's an FYI: you're all gonna die screaming_

**Survivors**

**Warriors of the apocalypse**

_All we want to do is eat your brains_

_We're not unreasonable, I mean, no one's gonna eat your eyes_

_All we want to do is eat your brains_

_We're at an impasse here, maybe we should compromise:_

_If you open up the doors_

_We'll all come inside and eat your brains_

**Joe Steele**

**Joey Krikowski**

**Bernard Davidson**

**Cheryl Harrison**

_I don't want to nitpick, Tom, but is this really your plan?_

_Spend your whole life locked inside a mall?_

_Maybe that's OK for now but someday you'll be out of food and guns_

_And you'll have to make the call_

**Jaren Simpson**

**Melony Simpson**

_I'm not surprised to see you haven't thought it through enough_

_You never had the head for all that bigger picture stuff_

_But Tom, that's what I do, and I plan on eating you slowly_

**Cyrus Wolfe**

**Pucker "Jericho" Uppenheimer**

_All we want to do is eat your brains_

_We're not unreasonable, I mean, no one's gonna eat your eyes_

_All we want to do is eat your brains_

_We're at an impasse here, maybe we should compromise:_

_If you open up the doors_

_We'll all come inside and eat your brains_

**Jerzy Tedesco**

**Kwasi Amare**

_I'd like to help you Tom, in any way I can_

_I sure appreciate the way you're working with me_

_I'm not a monster Tom, well, technically I am_

_I guess I am_

**Jake Sims**

**Louis Heriot**

**Tyrone Nestor Tawson "TNT"**

_I've got another meeting Tom, maybe we could wrap it up_

_I know we'll get to common ground somehow_

_Meanwhile I'll report back to my colleagues who were chewing on the doors_

**Camryn McCalski**

**Hunter Spector**

_I guess we'll table this for now_

_I'm glad to see you take constructive criticism well_

_Thank you for your time, I know we're all busy as hell_

_And we'll put this thing to bed_

_When I bash your head open_

**Matilda "Matt" Dillon**

_All we want to do is eat your brains_

_We're not unreasonable, I mean, no one's gonna eat your eyes_

_All we want to do is eat your brains_

_We're at an impasse here, maybe we should compromise:_

_If you open up the doors_

_We'll all come inside and eat your brains_

* * *

**9 MONTHS LATER…**

Matt wandered around a forest with a weak limp as his Berserker clothes were ripped and shredded, while his face was filled with dirt and dried up blood as well as cuts. He had a dead expression on his face as he continued to weakly walk through the forest. A walker began to approach him from the front, extending it's hands outwards to try and grab onto Matt.

The teen stepped aside just in time as the walker fell down on the ground behind him. Matt continued to walk through the forest until he reached a clearing, and was now on a road. He turned to his right to see the road continuing on for another mile, while on his left was a small town. He turned to the side to read the bulletin board of the abandoned town, finding out that he was in a place called Royal Woods.

_"You will find yourself in another city."_ the trench coat man's words echoed in his mind.

Not even caring about anything he did or what decision he made, he began to walk towards the town, getting weaker and weaker at the moment. Up front, he saw a single walker lingering around some cars; Matt's vision began to blur from starvation, dehydration, and all around from restless nights and sleep deprivation.

Matt whistled, grabbing the walker's attention, which growled towards him. Matt fell on his knees and began panting before he looked up at the cloud filled sky. His mouth trembled as he fell backwards, landing on his back; he raised his head to see the walker coming towards him, though he didn't move.

He was ready to die. He was ready to go out. He didn't care about his own philosophy about him taking his own life anymore… He just wanted to die and get away from all the misery and suffering, even if it was a painful death. He was about to go back on his own morals, having someone else take his life beside himself. He just didn't care anymore.

Matt waited and waited for the walker to approach him, before he heard the sounds of flesh ripping as the walker growled before it stopped. A loud thud could be heard though Matt continued to stare aimlessly up at the sky. His cut lipped leaked blood as his blood filled tear stains were still on his cheek.

His hearing was muffled as he continued to stare aimlessly up in the sky, watching the birds fly over him. He blinked once, taking away a lot of strength from his battered, weakened body. He licked his dry lips as he blinked some more, still staring upwards into the cloudy skies a light drizzle began to fall onto the ground and onto his face.

At that moment, shadows appeared next to him as a hand was placed on his shoulder, but this did not stop Matt from staring dead into the sky. Muffled shouts could be heard from all around, but that still didn't get Matt's attention. It wasn't until a hand was placed on his cheek, wiping away the blood stains from his tears that caused him to look to the right, seeing an older looking man above him.

"He's still alive!" shouted a female voice.

"Can you hear me?" asked a younger looking male.

"What's your name, son?" asked the older man.

Matt stared at him for a brief moment before he went back to staring at the sky with dead eyes. He remained silent as he continued to lie on the ground, all while several people continued to help treat his wounds. All of a sudden, he heard the trench coat man's voice one more time, telling him of the final prediction he was told a long time ago.

"Who are you?" asked the older man once again.

"_You will die… and be someone new."_

At that moment, everything stopped all around him, as his hearing left and everything went completely silent. Matt eventually gave his answer to the question that the middle aged man asked, as well as himself for these past months that felt like years.

"Cyrus." Matt answers.

* * *

**Matt Dillon will return… in a different form.**

* * *

**(102 pages! Wow! This took SO long to complete, but I managed to finish this. This is the story of how Matt traveled the apocalypse in 's own story, **_**Infection of the Dead**_**. He had to deal with the loss of sanity and identity as his past haunted him as he slowly lost his own mind. Matt went through hell just to survive and in the process, lost everything that made him **_**him.**_ **He lost his friends, his mind, but most importantly, his identity.**

**Looks like Cyrus was right… This is the first and only time in the entire story that Hunter has referred to Matt by his real name, as he always used to call him "kid" throughout the story.**

**Matt is the apocalypse and everyone in it. He represents what people will become if they spend too long in isolation and contribute to senseless killing. He is the decay of the human mind when thrown into an unknown world, constantly fighting for his life and survival. Always in fight or flight mode. Either kill or be killed. He is the true definition of insanity and survival.**

**This has been a blast on writing this story. Go check out 's story if you love the zombie apocalypse. Special thanks to him, he deserves it. He is an amazing and talented writer that I love his work. As for this story, this may be the end of Matt's journey, but it's just the beginning of a whole different one at the same time.**

**And with that guys, peace.)**


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